Latest news with #CorporationForPublicBroadcasting
Wall Street Journal
11 hours ago
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
Congress Passes Trump's Plan to Cut Foreign Aid, Public Media Funding
After overcoming some Republican resistance, Congress passed a bill to rescind $1.1 billion from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and claw back $7.9 billion from foreign-aid programs. Photo: Valerie Plesch/Bloomberg News
Forbes
16 hours ago
- Business
- Forbes
House Passes $9bn Claw Back Of Public Broadcasting And Foreign Aid Funds
The House voted to approve the White House's request to scrap $9 billion in previously approved funding for foreign aid and public broadcasting early on Friday, sending the matter to President Donald Trump's desk, after a delay caused by a clash in the narrowly divided chamber over the Epstein files issue. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., hailed the package's passage as a win for "fiscal ... More responsibility and government efficiency." Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved The rescissions package, which will claw back the already-approved funding, was passed mostly along party lines with a 216-213 vote, a day after the Senate cleared it. However, two GOP members, Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., and Mike Turner, R-Ohio, voted against the measure along with all Democrats. The legislation will now be sent to Trump's desk, who hailed its passage on Truth Social, saying: 'REPUBLICANS HAVE TRIED DOING THIS FOR 40 YEARS, AND FAILED….BUT NO MORE. THIS IS BIG!!!' The president's post attacked public broadcast funding, saying the $9 billion cuts include 'ATROCIOUS NPR AND PUBLIC BROADCASTING, WHERE BILLIONS OF DOLLARS A YEAR WERE WASTED.' The rescissions package will allow the Trump administration to claw back $1.1 billion in funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which helps fund public broadcasters like PBS and NPR, and approximately $8 billion from foreign aid programs, including allocations to USAID. The Senate had passed the package early on Thursday in a 51-48 vote, with two Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine, voting against it. After the bill's passage, Mike Johnson tweeted: 'President Trump and House Republicans promised fiscal responsibility and government efficiency. Today, we're once again delivering on that promise…The American people will no longer be forced to fund politically biased media and more than $8 billion in outrageous expenses overseas.'
Yahoo
17 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
How the Jeffrey Epstein files could derail Trump's spending cuts for PBS and NPR
WASHINGTON − Senate Republicans advanced a measure to claw back $9 billion in federal funds, hitting public broadcasting and foreign aid programs. Now, it's the House's turn to get President Donald Trump's requested spending cuts across the finish line. But what was expected to pass the lower chamber with relative ease on July 17 has been waylaid by other, unrelated legislative debates, including growing calls to release the Jeffrey Epstein case files. Lawmakers have until midnight on July 18 to approve the cuts. Otherwise, Trump's official request expires, and current funding that was already approved once previously by Congress remains in place. In order to meet this deadline, House Republicans have a few final steps to cross − and last-minute hurdles to clear. Senate swipes Sesame Street dollars The Senate approved the measure rescinding a combined $9 billion from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds NPR and PBS, and foreign aid agencies including the World Health Organization and U.S. Agency for International Development. More: Senate approves cuts to public broadcasting, foreign aid About $1 billion of that comes from public broadcasting on a network famous for shows like 'Sesame Street,' 'Frontline' and 'Antiques Roadshow.' Local stations, which are much more reliant on federal grants than their national counterparts, are expected to bear the brunt of lost funding. The bulk of the cuts target foreign aid, including international peacekeeping efforts and certain global health initiatives. More: Elmo and AIDS prevention: What is Congress targeting in their spending cuts? The Senate did nix a $400 million cut to global AIDS prevention, after some Republican senators raised concern. Crypto drama? Check. The House spent considerable time this week dealing with one major obstacle to taking up the Trump-backed spending cuts: Legislation dealing with cryptocurrency. More: What's a stablecoin? House passes landmark bills to regulate the cryptocurrency On July 17, the GOP-led chamber finally passed three bills related to the crypto industry and regulation. But that only happened after several days of disputes between Republicans that pushed those votes later into the week − and kept a vote on the spending cuts stuck waiting in line. How does Epstein weigh into this? A recent fallout between Trump and his MAGA base over the administration's Epstein case review has cast a shadow on Capitol Hill and the spending cuts procedure. Democrats in Congress are leaning on the wedge issue and proposing legislation that calls for the release of documents related to the disgraced financier and sex offender who died in custody in 2019. More: How do voters feel about Trump team's handling of Jeffrey Epstein case? Some Republicans say they want more transparency too and are prioritizing those demands ahead of a funding rescission vote. The internal GOP debate over Epstein-related legislation has clogged up the House's voting process even further. When will the House vote happen? The House could decide on the cuts to public broadcasting and foreign aid as soon as the evening of July 17. But if Republican negotiations over forcing an Epstein-related vote drag on, the unrelated funding bill may be punted to July 18, just before the deadline. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Sesame Street, NPR and foreign aid on the chopping block: What's next?
CNN
17 hours ago
- Business
- CNN
House passes Trump's $9 billion DOGE cuts package in another legislative win for president
House Republicans gave the final stamp of approval early Friday morning to a package of $9 billion in spending cuts to foreign aid and public broadcasting, handing a win to President Donald Trump. The final tally was 216-213, with GOP Reps. Mike Turner and Brian Fitzpatrick the only Republicans to vote against the package. Congress passed the package — which is part of Trump's cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency efforts — under an obscure presidential budget law used to circumvent the Senate filibuster. Trump is the first president in roughly 30 years to successfully use the maneuver, in a show of deference to the White House from the legislative branch – which is specifically given the power of the purse in the US Constitution. Roughly $8 billion will be taken from congressionally approved foreign aid programs as part of the White House's efforts to dismantle the US Agency for International Development. Another $1.1 billion comes from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which helps fund NPR and PBS. The spending cuts package, which codifies some of DOGE's cuts into law, was a key priority for Trump and conservatives who have long railed against ballooning federal spending. Ahead of final passage, however, the package ran into problems in the narrowly divided House, as some of the same members demanded a separate and unrelated promise from GOP leadership calling for more transparency on the Jeffrey Epstein files. The issue of more transparency over the Epstein case has percolated for days on Capitol Hill, placing an awkward wedge between Trump and some of his most steadfast supporters in the House GOP. Speaker Mike Johnson and his leadership team spent hours on Thursday afternoon with members of the House Rules Committee negotiating over the path forward. Ultimately, the committee voted Thursday night to advance the DOGE cuts package as well as a non-binding resolution that calls for the release of additional Jeffrey Epstein files following calls from a number of Republicans for more transparency surrounding the case. There is nothing that would compel this to the floor, however. The spending cuts package is $400 million less than the initial package the House passed after Senators rejected a plan to cut PEPFAR, a global program to combat AIDS. But conservatives still voted for the package when it came up for its second vote in the House arguing it contained significant spending cuts in other areas of global health. 'It's disappointing that we're, you know, $37 trillion in debt. This, to me, was low hanging fruit. We saw how DOGE exposed a lot of this misuse of funds. It's disappointing that the Senate took it out,' Rep. Eric Burlison of Missouri said. 'It's better than nothing. So I think that at least we're able to make some spending reductions.' Passage of the bill, however, now raises questions about how and whether Democrats and Republicans will be able to work together to keep the government funded past the September 30 deadline. Democratic Senate Leader Chuck Schumer argued the process has cast doubt on whether Democrats can work in good faith with Republican lawmakers who could agree to a spending deal now and pull future funding later. Schumer said that he does not 'have much faith' in Senate Majority Leader John Thune's insistence that Senate Republicans will approach government funding in a bipartisan way, after White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought said earlier on Thursday that the appropriations process should be 'less bipartisan.' 'Every time they have tried to resist Trump and Vought, they have folded – as recently as last night. I don't have much faith in that,' Schumer told CNN. GOP appropriators argue that the rescissions package shouldn't have any impact on those future spending talks and if it does, that is Democrats' own choice. 'It's up to them,' House Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole said.
CNN
17 hours ago
- Business
- CNN
House passes Trump's $9 billion DOGE cuts package in another legislative win for president
House Republicans gave the final stamp of approval early Friday morning to a package of $9 billion in spending cuts to foreign aid and public broadcasting, handing a win to President Donald Trump. The final tally was 216-213, with GOP Reps. Mike Turner and Brian Fitzpatrick the only Republicans to vote against the package. Congress passed the package — which is part of Trump's cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency efforts — under an obscure presidential budget law used to circumvent the Senate filibuster. Trump is the first president in roughly 30 years to successfully use the maneuver, in a show of deference to the White House from the legislative branch – which is specifically given the power of the purse in the US Constitution. Roughly $8 billion will be taken from congressionally approved foreign aid programs as part of the White House's efforts to dismantle the US Agency for International Development. Another $1.1 billion comes from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which helps fund NPR and PBS. The spending cuts package, which codifies some of DOGE's cuts into law, was a key priority for Trump and conservatives who have long railed against ballooning federal spending. Ahead of final passage, however, the package ran into problems in the narrowly divided House, as some of the same members demanded a separate and unrelated promise from GOP leadership calling for more transparency on the Jeffrey Epstein files. The issue of more transparency over the Epstein case has percolated for days on Capitol Hill, placing an awkward wedge between Trump and some of his most steadfast supporters in the House GOP. Speaker Mike Johnson and his leadership team spent hours on Thursday afternoon with members of the House Rules Committee negotiating over the path forward. Ultimately, the committee voted Thursday night to advance the DOGE cuts package as well as a non-binding resolution that calls for the release of additional Jeffrey Epstein files following calls from a number of Republicans for more transparency surrounding the case. There is nothing that would compel this to the floor, however. The spending cuts package is $400 million less than the initial package the House passed after Senators rejected a plan to cut PEPFAR, a global program to combat AIDS. But conservatives still voted for the package when it came up for its second vote in the House arguing it contained significant spending cuts in other areas of global health. 'It's disappointing that we're, you know, $37 trillion in debt. This, to me, was low hanging fruit. We saw how DOGE exposed a lot of this misuse of funds. It's disappointing that the Senate took it out,' Rep. Eric Burlison of Missouri said. 'It's better than nothing. So I think that at least we're able to make some spending reductions.' Passage of the bill, however, now raises questions about how and whether Democrats and Republicans will be able to work together to keep the government funded past the September 30 deadline. Democratic Senate Leader Chuck Schumer argued the process has cast doubt on whether Democrats can work in good faith with Republican lawmakers who could agree to a spending deal now and pull future funding later. Schumer said that he does not 'have much faith' in Senate Majority Leader John Thune's insistence that Senate Republicans will approach government funding in a bipartisan way, after White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought said earlier on Thursday that the appropriations process should be 'less bipartisan.' 'Every time they have tried to resist Trump and Vought, they have folded – as recently as last night. I don't have much faith in that,' Schumer told CNN. GOP appropriators argue that the rescissions package shouldn't have any impact on those future spending talks and if it does, that is Democrats' own choice. 'It's up to them,' House Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole said.
