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Axios
28-05-2025
- Business
- Axios
Trump asking Congress to help with $9.4 billion in DOGE cuts
The White House is planning to send a $9.4 billion rescissions package to Congress next Tuesday, giving lawmakers the opportunity to codify some of the potential cuts identified by DOGE, according to an administration official. Why it matters: The White House wants a big public fight over funding for NPR, PBS and foreign aid. They are likely to get it. The formal transmission of the package to Congress will start a 45-day clock for lawmakers to claw back funding that has previously been appropriated. The future of NPR, PBS, the USAID and United States Agency of International Development are hanging in the balance. Trump has been clear that he wants to defund those organizations, but he may need Republicans in Congress to supply the votes to cut off their money supply. Zoom in: The proposed cuts would trim $1.1 billion from the Corporation of Public Broadcasting and $8.3 billion in foreign assistance, from both USAID and the African Development Foundation. NPR and PBS receive the bulk of their funding from nongovernmental sources, but Corporation for Public Broadcasting allocates about $535 million in federal funding annually to them. The Office of Management and Budget has identified foreign aid grants that it's convinced will bolster its case for cutting funding for USAID and the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Officials will identify grants like $882,000 for social media mentorship in Serbia and Belarus or $1 million for voter ID in Haiti to make their case against USAID, according to an administration official. Zoom out: On May 1, Trump signed an executive order to end "taxpayer subsidization of biased media," which directed the CPB to end its funding for NPR and PBS, the country's two biggest public broadcasters. PBS CEO Paula Kerger told Axios at News Shapers event April 30 that she was prepared to "vigorously" defend the independent broadcaster's board. NPR sued the White House on Tuesday, citing the First Amendment and alleging Trump's effort to starve them of their funding amounted to a "clear violation of the Constitution. NPR's CEO Katherine Maher was grilled by GOP lawmakers at a hearing in March including 2020 tweets where she described Trump as a "racist" and "sociopath." Speaker Mike Johnson told Axios back in April that it was fair for elected representatives to evaluate whether something is a "good use of taxpayer dollars." The intrigue: Trump's efforts to shutter the U.S. Institute of Peace have been challenged in the courts, with a federal judge ruling last week that the ousted president had a right to return after DOGE staffers took over the building earlier this
Axios
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Axios
Watch: Axios News Shapers event exploring takeaways from Trump's first 100 days
Axios is hosting a News Shapers event in Washington, D.C., featuring conversations with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), PBS president and CEO Paula Kerger and Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) on the biggest impacts stemming from Trump's first 100 days and the news of the day on Capitol Hill.
Axios
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Axios
Exclusive: Van Hollen says Trump has "no excuses" for violating Ábrego García's rights
Kilmar Ábrego García's unlawful deportation underscores a" constitutional crisis," Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said Wednesday at an Axios' News Shapers event. The big picture: Van Hollen has led the charge for Kilmar Ábrego García's return to the U.S., traveling to El Salvador earlier this month to meet with Salvadoran officials and the erroneously deported man. Driving the news: "It's clear that the Trump administration continues to violate the Constitution and Ábrego García's due process rights," Van Hollen told Axios' Stephen Neukam Wednesday. Van Hollen said Ábrego García remains in a "total communications blackout" and is unreachable by his family. "This is about more than one man," he said. "I'm not vouching for him — I'm vouching for his rights." He continued, "If you take away and trample on his rights, you threaten them for everybody." State of play: On Tuesday, Van Hollen released a strongly worded direct appeal to President Trump, slamming his administration's actions and failure to comply with court orders as "gross violations of the Constitution and due process rights." He emphasized Wednesday, as he did in his letter, that Salvadoran Vice President Félix Ulloa told him during their meeting that "the ball was in America's court." Van Hollen argued, "There are no excuses for the Trump administration to continue to violate his due process rights." Catch up quick: The administration has argued that facilitating Ábrego García's return simply means assisting if El Salvador asks to send him back, Axios' Sam Baker reported. But Van Hollen contended in his letter, "The Government of El Salvador is imprisoning him because your Administration is paying them to do so and they claim to be contractually obligated," a point he reiterated Wednesday. In an ABC interview that aired Tuesday, Trump said he "could" get Ábrego García back. He added, "if he were the gentleman you say he is, I would do that." The administration has repeatedly claimed Ábrego García is a member of MS-13 — though he has not been charged with any gang-related crimes.
