GOP Greenlights $9 Billion in Foreign Aid, Public Media Cuts as Trump Cheers ‘Big Win’
WASHINGTON — In a midnight vote that underscored the intensifying partisan divide on federal spending, Republicans in the House approved President Donald Trump’s plan to rescind $9 billion in already-allocated funds, targeting foreign aid programs and public broadcasting, reported by Daily Hurriyet News. The measure, which passed 216 to 213 along party lines, now heads to the White House for the president’s signature.
The cuts slash funding for relief programs in war-torn and disaster-hit countries and eliminate $1.1 billion in future support for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the backbone of over 1,500 public radio and TV stations, including NPR and PBS.
“REPUBLICANS HAVE TRIED DOING THIS FOR 40 YEARS, AND FAILED… BUT NO MORE. THIS IS BIG!!!” Trump wrote on Truth Social, celebrating what he framed as a landmark victory for fiscal conservatism.
House Speaker Mike Johnson hailed the vote as a step toward “government efficiency,” echoing Trump’s campaign vow to trim what they call bloated federal spending.
Yet critics point to the irony: the same Republican-controlled Congress recently passed a domestic spending bill expected to add over $3 trillion to the national debt. The symbolic nature of the rescissions package — which claws back just a fraction of those increases — has drawn fierce backlash from Democrats and even some GOP moderates.
An earlier draft of the bill included a $400 million cut to a widely praised global AIDS program credited with saving over 26 million lives. That provision was scrapped after pushback from moderate Republicans.
Senate Democrats, who maintain filibuster power with 47 seats, accused the GOP of undermining bipartisan governance. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called it “a dark day for any American who relies on public broadcasting during floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, and other disasters.”
House Democrats, led by Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, warned the vote could sabotage ongoing budget negotiations ahead of the September deadline — raising fears of a potential government shutdown.
The White House budget office signaled Thursday that a second rescissions package may be imminent, keeping fiscal tensions on a knife’s edge as election season looms.
