WASHINGTON − Republicans in Congress are one step closer to officially trimming $9 billion in federal funds from public broadcasting, global health initiatives and other foreign aid programs.
The Senate narrowly approved a spending cuts package in the early morning hours of July 17, following more than 12 hours of debate and marathon series’ of votes.
Two Republican senators − Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine − voted against the measure.
The legislation, formally requested by President Donald Trump in early June, represents a sliver of the nearly $200 billion in government savings the Department of Government Efficiency reports it has made.
Once approved by the House and signed by Trump, the measure would strip billions in allocations from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds NPR and PBS, and foreign aid agencies including the World Health Organization and the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Elmo and AIDS prevention: What is Congress targeting in their spending cuts?
Trump’s request officially expires at midnight on July 18. Now that the Senate has signed off, the bill returns to the House, where lawmakers must approve the upper chamber’s changes.
Some Republican senators, including Collins, had criticized proposed cuts included in the House’s original version of the bill that would have rescinded funds meant for global AIDS prevention.
The $400 million cut to AIDS prevention was removed by the Senate during the hours-long deliberation process ahead of the final vote.
Fiscal conservatives in the lower chamber have previously complained about the prospect of voting on a diluted legislation package. Still, the House is expected to pass the Trump administration’s priority spending cuts before the end-of-week deadline.
“There are things in there I would’ve preferred not to cut,” Chair of the House Appropriations Committee Tom Cole, R-Oklahoma, told reporters July 16, ahead of the Senate’s vote. He declined to specify which items he was referencing.
“But, you know, I understand … You’re going to end up having to cut some things you don’t want to cut. That’s just the nature of it,” he added. “Every decision can’t be one that makes you happy.”
Cole said he will “be happy to vote for whatever the Senate sends back over.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: PBS, NPR, foreign aid targeted in Senate passed spending cuts
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