House gives final approval to Trump’s $9 billion cut to public broadcasting, foreign aid

House passes $9 billion spending cuts package

The House passed a bill to slash $9 billion in federal spending during the early morning hours on Friday. The bill now heads to President Trump's desk for his signature. "President Trump and House Republicans promised fiscal responsibility and government efficiency. Today, we’re once again delivering on that promise," said House speaker Mike Johnson on "X".

WASHINGTON - The House gave final approval to President Donald Trump's request to claw back about $9 billion for public broadcasting and foreign aid early Friday.

The vote marked the first time in decades that a president has successfully submitted such a rescissions request to Congress.

The House passed the bill by a vote of 216-213. It now goes to Trump for his signature.

House approves Trump’s cuts to foreign aid, public broadcasting

What they're saying:

"We need to get back to fiscal sanity and this is an important step," said House Speaker Mike Johnson.

"HOUSE APPROVES NINE BILLION DOLLAR CUTS PACKAGE, INCLUDING ATROCIOUS NPR AND PUBLIC BROADCASTING, WHERE BILLIONS OF DOLLARS A YEAR WERE WASTED," Trump posted on his Truth Social platform. "REPUBLICANS HAVE TRIED DOING THIS FOR 40 YEARS, AND FAILED….BUT NO MORE. THIS IS BIG!!!"

Pres. Trump reacts to passage of spending cuts bill

President Donald Trump reacted to the House passing the $9 billion spending cuts package Friday. "House approves nine billion dollar cuts package, including atrocious NPR and public broadcasting, where billions of dollars a year were wasted. Republicans have tried doing this for 40 years, and failed...but no more. This is big!!!" shared Trump on Truth Social.

No Democrats supported the measure when it passed the Senate, 51-48, in the early morning hours Thursday. Final passage in the House was delayed for several hours as Republicans wrestled with their response to Democrats' push for a vote on the release of Jeffrey Epstein files.

Inside the cuts

Among the foreign aid cuts are $800 million for a program that provides emergency shelter, water and family reunification for refugees and $496 million to provide food, water and health care for countries hit by natural disasters and conflicts. There also is a $4.15 billion cut for programs that aim to boost economies and democratic institutions in developing nations.

Democrats argued that the Republican administration’s animus toward foreign aid programs would hurt America’s standing in the world and create a vacuum for China to fill.

The House passed the bill by a vote of 216-213. It now goes to Trump for his signature. (Credit: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

The White House argued that many of the cuts would incentivize other nations to step up and do more to respond to humanitarian crises and that the rescissions best served the American taxpayer.

In addition, the cancellation of $1.1 billion for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting represents the full amount it is due to receive during the next two budget years. The White House says the public media system is politically biased and an unnecessary expense.

The corporation distributes more than two-thirds of the money to more than 1,500 locally operated public television and radio stations, with much of the remainder assigned to National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service to support national programming. Democrats were unsuccessful in restoring the funding in the Senate.