President Donald Trump signed into law a sweeping $9 billion rescissions package Thursday, officially pulling back billions in already-approved federal funds for foreign aid and public broadcasting. The move marks another legislative win for the Trump administration, just weeks after the president signed his massive “big, beautiful bill” focused on tax cuts and domestic policy reforms.
The newly enacted measure claws back nearly $8 billion previously allocated to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), an agency long involved in distributing aid to impoverished nations and supporting development initiatives abroad. The Trump administration has since absorbed USAID into the State Department, arguing it failed to sufficiently advance U.S. strategic interests and had become bloated and ineffective.
In addition, the package cuts over $1 billion in funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which helps support NPR and PBS — long-standing targets of conservative criticism over political bias.
Senate Narrowly Approves Cuts After House Passage
Congress passed the final version of the rescissions bill earlier this month, with the Senate approving the measure in a narrow 51–48 vote during a dramatic early-morning session on July 17. Republican Senators Susan Collins (Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) broke with their party to vote against the legislation, joining Democrats in opposition.
The House had passed its version of the bill back in June and gave final approval following the Senate’s action.
Thune Hails “Step Toward Fiscal Sanity”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) praised the package as a long-overdue effort to rein in government waste.
“I appreciate all the work the administration has done in identifying wasteful spending,” Thune said ahead of the vote. “Now it’s time for the Senate to do its part to cut some of that waste out of the budget. It’s a small but important step toward fiscal sanity.”
Democrats Warn of National Security Fallout
Democrats strongly opposed the cuts, especially to foreign aid, arguing they weaken U.S. influence abroad and embolden adversaries like China and Russia.
“If Republicans slash more American aid, it will create a dangerous vacuum that the Chinese Communist Party will continue to eagerly fill,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) in a floor speech on July 15.
Schumer also blasted Republicans for allowing the president to wield unprecedented discretion over federal funding, saying, “They’re letting Donald Trump decide for himself which programs to defund, and that puts everything at risk — healthcare, education, food assistance, public health. Everything.”
Historic Move Comes After Past Failure
This marks the first successful rescissions package passed by Congress since 1999. President Trump had pushed a similar initiative in 2018 during his first term, but that effort was derailed in the Senate when Collins and then-Senator Richard Burr (R-N.C.) joined Democrats to block it.
While the $9 billion in cuts represents only a small fraction of the nation’s $36.7 trillion debt, supporters argue it’s a meaningful signal that Washington is beginning to take fiscal discipline seriously again. Critics, meanwhile, see it as a politically driven move that sacrifices long-standing diplomatic and cultural institutions.
The package’s approval reflects Trump’s continued push to refocus federal spending on domestic priorities, reduce what he calls “wasteful globalist giveaways,” and target institutions viewed by his administration as out of step with American values.
