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The Hill
3 hours ago
- Business
- The Hill
White House sends Congress request for $9.4 billion in DOGE cuts
The White House on Tuesday sent Congress a request to claw back $9.4 billion in funding for foreign aid and to public broadcasting — the first package that would codify the slashes spearheaded by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). It is a long-awaited move that many conservative activists have been clamoring for, even as House and Senate Republicans separately push forward on the 'One Big Beautiful Bill' of President Trump's tax cut and spending priorities. The package needs only a simple majority to pass in each chamber, allowing Republicans to bypass the threat of a Democratic filibuster in the Senate. Congress has 45 days to approve the recissions request after it is submitted — but must balance that timeline with other top priorities like the 'big, beautiful bill.' The House is aiming to vote on the package next week. 'Today, we have officially received the rescissions request from the White House to eliminate $9.4 billion in wasteful foreign aid spending at State and USAID and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds NPR and PBS,' Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said. 'The House will act quickly on this request.' Communication from President Trump officially making the request to rescind the funds was read on the House floor Tuesday afternoon. 'I here report 22 recissions of budget authority totaling $9.4 billion The proposed recissions affect programs of the Department of State, as well as the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, United States Agency for International Development, the United States Institute of Peace, and other international assistance programs,' the message from Trump said. The measure's text has not yet been publicly released, but it is expected to rescind $8.3 billion in foreign aid, largely from funding that was approved for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which was largely dismantled as part of the DOGE efforts earlier this year. An OMB spokesperson pointed to millions of dollars in those accounts that funded global LGBTQ programs and other gender equity programs, as well as global climate change and green energy initiatives. It is also expected to cut almost $9 million from the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) — with and OMB spokesperson pointing to how it funded '$3 million for circumcision, vasectomies, and condoms in Zambia' and '$5.1 million to strengthen the 'resilience of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans gender, intersex, and queer global movements.'' It also rescinds $22 million from the African Development Foundation. Republicans are heavily messaging on the package's $1.1 billion in recissions to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which provides funding for NPR and PBS — two outlets that Republicans have decried as biased. Both outlets have sued over Trump orders targeting their funding. The cuts would amount to only a fraction of the estimated $175 billion in 'savings' DOGE's website says it has racked up through a combination of efforts, including workforce reductions, grants and contract cancellations, as well as regulatory savings and asset sales. However, top Democrats on the House and Senate appropriations committees have accused the Trump administration of illegally freezing $425 billion in federal funding as of Tuesday as it has undertaken a sweeping operation to shrink the size of the federal government. Conservatives in both chambers have been confident that the GOP-led Congress will be able to push through the proposed cuts. Some are hopeful the package will be the first of multiple from the White House in the months ahead, particularly as the Trump administration's downsizing efforts face roadblocks in court. However, some senators have already signaled changes are likely to the request. Other Republicans have also expressed concerns about how funding cuts would impact television stations back home and about the impact of cutting PEPFAR funding. The Impoundment Control Act provides the president with a legal pathway to cancel congressionally-approved funds. The 1974 law allows the president to temporarily withhold funding after the administration sends its request to Congress. But if Congress fails to greenlight Trump's proposed rescissions, the administration must release the funding. Trump has been the only president to send the special message to Congress in the past two decades. He also attempted to pull back funds during his first term using the same process but was unsuccessful, despite Republicans controlling the House, Senate and White House at the time.
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump demands Congress back DOGE's $9.4 billion cuts to USAID and PBS
The White House plans to ask Congress this week to claw back $9.4 billion in already approved funding to foreign aid and public media outlets, as the administration seeks to make permanent some of the cuts and priorities of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency. The package includes $8.3 billion in cuts to foreign aid efforts ranging from climate work to LGBT programs, as well as $1.1 billion clawed back from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which partially funds NPR and PBS, an administration official told The Independent. Republican lawmakers have expressed mixed feelings about the clawback package. 'The House is eager and ready to act on DOGE's findings so we can deliver even more cuts to big government that President Trump wants and the American people demand,' House Speaker Mike Johnson said last week on X, promising the cuts would end USAID's 'insane spending.' The proposal, expected to be submitted as early as Tuesday, would have 45 days to pass. Senator Susan Collins of Maine, chair of the Appropriations Committee, has said she's unsure that'll be enough time. 'It's extremely complex and the rules, because there hasn't been a successful rescission package in many, many years,' she told NBC News. The Independent has contacted PBS and NPR for comment. 'We want to see the rescission order before we comment on it,' a spokesperson for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting told The Independent. The broadcasters have already signaled they'll push back on Trump's wider attempts to defund them, though. PBS and NPR are already suing Trump, after the president signed an executive order in May calling on the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to cease funding the broadcasters. The latter is also suing Trump over an attempt to remove its board members. During its lawsuit, the corporation stated that the administration attempted to assign a DOGE team to the organization. However, the outfit denied the request, arguing that federal law states the organization 'will not be an agency or establishment of the United States Government.' Many of the foreign aid programs on the chopping block are associated with another DOGE target, the U.S. Agency for International Development, which the administration shuttered in March, moving its remaining operations to the wider State Department. The cuts to USAID, part of larger disruptions to U.S. HIV/AIDS-prevention programs, have been linked to thousands of deaths. The rescission plan is separate from the administration's so-called 'Big, Beautiful Bill' of proposed domestic spending, which passed the House last month. The outgoing Musk has criticized that bill for not doing more to reduce government spending. "I was, like, disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, doesn't decrease it, and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing,' Musk told CBS News as he was departing. "I think a bill can be big or it can be beautiful," he went on. "But I don't know if it could be both. My personal opinion."
Business Times
4 days ago
- Politics
- Business Times
PBS sues Trump to reverse funding cuts
Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) sued Donald Trump on Friday (May 30) over the US president's executive order to cut its federal funding, calling it an unconstitutional attack that would 'upend public television.' In a complaint filed in the Washington, DC federal court, PBS and a public TV station in Minnesota said Trump's order violated the US Constitution's First Amendment by making the president the 'arbiter' of programming content, including by attempting to defund PBS. The May 1 order 'makes no attempt to hide the fact that it is cutting off the flow of funds to PBS because of the content of PBS programming and out of a desire to alter the content of speech,' PBS said. 'That is blatant viewpoint discrimination.' Its programming has included 'Sesame Street,' 'Mister Rogers' Neighborhood,' 'Frontline' and several Ken Burns documentaries including 'The Civil War.' Member stations also broadcast public affairs shows such as 'Washington Week.' Trump's order demanded that the taxpayer-backed Corporation for Public Broadcasting cut federal funding to PBS and NPR, short for National Public Radio. All three entities are nonprofits. PBS said the Corporation for Public Broadcasting provides 16 per cent of its US$373.4 million annual budget. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up It also said the funding ban would apply to local member stations, which provide 61 per cent of its budget through dues, including millions of dollars in federal funds. In a statement, White House spokesperson Harrison Fields said the Corporation for Public Broadcasting was 'creating media to support a particular political party on the taxpayers' dime. Therefore, the President is exercising his lawful authority to limit funding to NPR and PBS.' NPR filed its own lawsuit on May 27 to block Trump's order. Formed in 1969, PBS has 336 member stations including the plaintiff Lakeland PBS, which serves about 490,000 people in northern and central Minnesota. The executive order was part of Trump's effort to sanction entities he believes are opposed to his political agenda. Trump said that by funding PBS and NPR, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting ignored Americans' right to expect that taxpayer dollars going to public broadcasting 'fund only fair, accurate, unbiased, and nonpartisan news coverage.' The White House separately accused PBS and NPR of using taxpayer money to spread 'radical, woke propaganda disguised as 'news.'' In its complaint, PBS said Trump's order 'smacks of retaliation for, among other things, perceived political slights in news coverage.' The Corporation for Public Broadcasting receives funding from Congress two years in advance, to shield it from political interference. It sued Trump last month after he sought to fire three of its five board members. REUTERS
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
PBS sues Trump administration over order to revoke federal funding
PBS is suing President Donald Trump and other members of his administration in an effort to halt his order stripping federal funding from the television network. The lawsuit, filed Friday, argues that 'regardless of any policy disagreements over the role of public television, our Constitution and laws forbid the President from serving as the arbiter of the content of PBS's programming, including by attempting to defund PBS.' Trump and his administration have targeted a wide array of media companies he views as his adversaries, including looking to strip federal funding from public media organizations. Earlier this month, the president signed an executive order to restrict public funds to both NPR and PBS. In his order, Trump claimed the organizations engage in 'biased and partisan news coverage.' PBS argues in its lawsuit that Trump's order violates the First Amendment because it 'makes no attempt to hide the fact that it is cutting off the flow of funds to PBS because of the content of PBS programming and out of a desire to alter the content of speech.' 'That is blatant viewpoint discrimination and an infringement of PBS and PBS Member Stations' private editorial discretion,' the suit states. In a statement to POLITICO, the White House disputed PBS's accusations. 'The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) is creating media to support a particular political party on the taxpayers' dime. Therefore, the President is exercising his lawful authority to limit funding to NPR and PBS,' said deputy press secretary Harrison Fields. 'The President was elected with a mandate to ensure efficient use of taxpayer dollars, and he will continue to use his lawful authority to achieve that objective.' Both NPR and PBS have been regular targets for Trump, outgoing Department of Government Efficiency chief Elon Musk and the administration's allies on Capitol Hill. A PBS spokesperson previously told POLITICO that government dollars accounted for roughly 16 percent of its funding. The television system also names Education Secretary Linda McMahon in the suit, after the Education Department cut grants to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting — the independent, congressional-funded organization that provides grants to public media — for Ready to Learn programming, which includes making shows like 'Sesame Street.' The Department of Homeland Security and FEMA are also named in the suit because PBS's technology is used as a backup for the nationwide emergency alert system. PBS's lawsuit comes just three days after NPR filed a similar lawsuit against the Trump administration. Like PBS, NPR's lawsuit accuses the president's order of violating the First Amendment. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting is also suing the Trump administration after the president tried to fire board members.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
PBS sues Trump administration over executive order targeting public broadcasting
PBS has filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump's administration challenging his executive order targeting public broadcasting. PBS's lawsuit, filed in United States District Court in Washington, accuses the administration of unlawfully interfering in the operations of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and committing multiple violations of the First Amendment – viewpoint discrimination, illegal retaliation against the network and encroachment of PBS's press freedoms. The suit also alleges the administration has violated the Administrative Procedure Act. Trump signed the executive order instructing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to "cease direct funding to NPR and PBS" on his way to Florida aboard Air Force One on May 1. The order blocks federal funding to NPR and PBS to the maximum extent allowed by law, according to a fact sheet from the White House. It also prevents indirect funding to PBS and NPR by prohibiting local public radio and television stations, and any other recipients of CPB funds, from using taxpayer dollars to support the organizations. Additionally, it instructs the Federal Communications Commission and relevant agencies to investigate whether NPR and PBS have engaged in unlawful discrimination. This is a developing story. Please check back for updates. PBS sues Trump administration over executive order targeting public broadcasting originally appeared on
