Latest news with #spendingcuts
Bloomberg
a day ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Federal Workforce in DC Area Has Shrunk by About 22,000 People
By and Mark Niquette Save The federal government workforce in and around the nation's capital has shrunk by about 22,100 in the year through May, a new report shows, and that number is poised to mount. Federal workers across Washington, DC, Maryland and Virginia found themselves particularly vulnerable to the Trump administration's efforts to reduce government jobs and spending. Maryland saw the steepest decline in its federal workforce, dropping 5.4%, followed by Virginia, according to a report by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.
CNN
a day ago
- Business
- CNN
Live updates: Congress passes DOGE spending cuts as Trump orders release of ‘pertinent' Epstein files
Update: Date: 11 min ago Title: Congress passed the DOGE spending cuts package. Now what? Content: The House in the early hours of Friday passed the package of $9 billion in spending cuts, which is part of the White House's cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency efforts. It now awaits President Donald Trump's signature. Effect on public broadcasting and international aid: 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. Public television stations will be 'forced to make hard decisions in the weeks and months ahead,' PBS CEO Paula Kerger said yesterday. Advocates say the entire system of noncommercial media will become weaker without the foundational support from taxpayers, resulting in fewer original shows and less local news coverage. Government funding: 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. CNN's Brian Stelter contributed reporting. Update: Date: 11 min ago Title: Catch up here: More Epstein files developments and spending cuts package heads to Trump's desk Content: The House of Representatives passed the DOGE spending cuts package overnight. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump said he'd ordered Attorney General Pam Bondi to release 'any and all pertinent' grand jury testimony in the case of accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. Get up to speed here: • DOGE cuts package: House Republicans gave the final stamp of approval overnight to a package of $9 billion in spending cuts to foreign aid and public broadcasting, handing a win to Trump. 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. The measure will now head to the president to be signed into law. Trump is the first president in roughly 30 years to successfully use the maneuver. • Holdup over Epstein: 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 Epstein files. 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 Epstein files following intense talks from a number of Republicans who asked for more transparency surrounding the case. There is nothing that would compel this to the floor, however. • Wall Street Journal report: A collection of letters gifted to Epstein for his 50th birthday in 2003 included a note bearing Trump's name and an outline of a naked woman, according to a Wall Street Journal report. The drawing, depicting a woman's breasts and a 'Donald' signature in the place of pubic hair, surrounded several lines of typewritten text, according to the newspaper, which reviewed the letter. It concluded with the line: 'Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret.' Trump in an interview with the Journal on Tuesday denied that he wrote the letter or drew the picture and threatened to sue the newspaper if it published the story. • Epstein files: Trump then announced last night on Truth Social that he's asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to produce 'any and all pertinent Grand Jury testimony,' related to Epstein, seeming to bow to pressure to release more material on the case. Bondi quickly reposted Trump's comments on X and wrote: 'President Trump—we are ready to move the court tomorrow to unseal the grand jury transcripts.' Her department could ask judges to make such material public, but the process could be lengthy as the courts weigh privacy and other concerns.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
House passes Trump's cuts to public broadcasting, foreign aid; next stop president's desk
WASHINGTON − President Donald Trump's push for $9 billion in spending cuts − slicing into public broadcasting stations PBS and NPR, as well as the United States' foreign aid efforts − crossed the Congressional finish line just after midnight on July 18 and soon will hit the Republican's desk for signature into law. The House approved the measure, in response to Trump's official request, in a 216-213 party line vote. Two Republicans voted no on the second-term president's plan, which represents just a fraction of the almost $200 billion that Trump's Department of Government Efficiency claims to have saved the federal government. A bulk of the cuts in the legislation strips away funding authorized by a previous law for foreign aid, including peacekeeping efforts and global health initiatives. More: Elmo and AIDS prevention: What is Congress targeting in their spending cuts? Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought said the amounts being slashed represent "wasteful and unnecessary spending," in the White House's formal request to Congress. Around $1 million will be taken from public broadcasting, including PBS and NPR. Local stations, which are much more reliant on federal grants than their national counterparts, are expected to bear the brunt of that lost funding. Congress barely met their July 18 midnight deadline to get the bill approved, otherwise the current funding would remains in place. The Senate passed its version of the spending cut bill earlier in the week after Republicans including Sen. Susan Collins successfully saved funding grants for AIDS prevention . This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Congress approves Trump's $9 billion cuts to PBS, NPR, foreign aid
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
House passes Trump's cuts to public broadcasting, foreign aid; next stop president's desk
WASHINGTON − President Donald Trump's push for $9 billion in spending cuts − slicing into public broadcasting stations PBS and NPR, as well as the United States' foreign aid efforts − crossed the Congressional finish line just after midnight on July 18 and soon will hit the Republican's desk for signature into law. The House approved the measure, in response to Trump's official request, in a 216-213 party line vote. Two Republicans voted no on the second-term president's plan, which represents just a fraction of the almost $200 billion that Trump's Department of Government Efficiency claims to have saved the federal government. A bulk of the cuts in the legislation strips away funding authorized by a previous law for foreign aid, including peacekeeping efforts and global health initiatives. More: Elmo and AIDS prevention: What is Congress targeting in their spending cuts? Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought said the amounts being slashed represent "wasteful and unnecessary spending," in the White House's formal request to Congress. Around $1 million will be taken from public broadcasting, including PBS and NPR. Local stations, which are much more reliant on federal grants than their national counterparts, are expected to bear the brunt of that lost funding. Congress barely met their July 18 midnight deadline to get the bill approved, otherwise the current funding would remains in place. The Senate passed its version of the spending cut bill earlier in the week after Republicans including Sen. Susan Collins successfully saved funding grants for AIDS prevention . This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Congress approves Trump's $9 billion cuts to PBS, NPR, foreign aid
Fox News
a day ago
- Business
- Fox News
Congress sends $9B spending cuts package to Trump's desk after late-night House vote
Congress is officially sending a package detailing $9 billion in spending cuts to President Donald Trump's desk. The bill, called a "rescissions package," passed the House of Representatives in a late-night vote after intense debate between Republicans and Democrats. It's a victory for House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., but a mostly symbolic one – the spending cuts bill was largely seen by Trump allies as a test run of a fiscal claw-back process not used in more than two decades. "This bill tonight is part of continuing that trend of getting spending under control. Does it answer all the problems? No. $9 billion, I would say is a good start," House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said during debate on the bill. When signed by Trump, it will block $8 billion in funding to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and $1 billion to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting for the remainder of the fiscal year. The dollars had been allocated by Congress for the duration of fiscal year 2025. Republicans celebrated it as a victory for cutting off the flow of U.S. taxpayer dollars to what they called "woke" initiatives abroad, while Democrats accused the right of gutting critical foreign aid. Rescissions packages are a way for the president to have input in Congress' yearly appropriations process. The White House sends a proposal to block some congressionally obligated funds, which lawmakers have 45 days to get through the House and Senate. Republicans have also been able to sideline Democrats so far, with the rescissions process lowering the Senate's threshold for passage from 60 votes to 51. The last time a rescissions package was signed into law was 1999. Consideration of the bill began with a House Rules Committee hearing at 6 p.m. on Thursday evening. Democrats attempted multiple times throughout the process to weaponize the ongoing inter-GOP fallout over the Jeffrey Epstein case, both in the House Rules Committee and on the chamber floor during debate on the bill. Multiple calls were made for votes to force the release of the so-called Epstein "files." "If every Republican votes to block our attempt to release the records, they are telling Epstein's victims, you don't matter as much as our political convenience. And that should disgust every single one of us," said Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass. Far-right GOP figures are demanding accountability, while Trump has called on his base to move on after the Department of Justice (DOJ) signaled the case was closed. Initial plans to begin advancing the bill earlier in the day were quickly scuttled, with Republicans on the committee being concerned about being put into a difficult position with potential Epstein votes. In the end, a compromise led to the House Rules Committee advancing a separate nonbinding measure dealing with Epstein transparency, on a parallel track to the rescissions bill. "All the credible evidence should come out. I've been very clear with members of the House Rules Committee. Republicans have been taking the incoming criticism because they voted to stop the Democrats' politicization of this, and they're trying to stick to their job and move their procedural rules to the floor so we can do our work and get the rescissions done for the American people," Johnson told reporters during negotiations earlier in the day. Democrats nevertheless pressed on, mentioning Epstein multiple times on the House floor. McGovern even briefly led a chant of "release the files" when closing debate on the bill. Republicans, in turn, accused Democrats of hypocrisy. "Interesting how they talk about Jeffrey Epstein, because for four years, Mr. Speaker, President Joe Biden had those files, and not a single Democrat that you're hearing tonight tried to get those files released," House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said at one point during the House floor debate. The House initially voted to advance a $9.4 billion rescissions package, but it was trimmed somewhat in the Senate after some senators had concerns about cutting funding for HIV/AIDS prevention research in Africa. Trump is expected to sign the bill on Friday.
