The Latest: Senate passes $9 billion in spending cuts to public broadcasting, foreign aid
Jul 17, 2025, 5:40 AM
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., walks to his office from the Senate chamber as Senate Republicans vote on President Donald Trump's request to cancel about $9 billion in foreign aid and public broadcasting spending, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, July 16, 2025.(AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS
(AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
Just after 2 a.m. ET, the Senate passed about $9 billion in federal spending cuts requested by President Donald Trump, including deep reductions to public broadcasting and foreign aid, moving forward on his top priorities despite concerns from several Republican senators.
The legislation, which now moves to the House, would have a tiny impact on the nation’s rising debt but could have major ramifications for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and U.S. food aid internationally. It also could complicate efforts to pass additional spending bills this year, as Democrats and even some Republicans voice objections to broadly ceding congressional spending power with little idea of how the White House Office of Management and Budget would apply the cuts.
The 51-48 vote came after Democrats sought to remove many of the proposed rescissions during 12 hours of amendment votes. None of the Democratic amendments were adopted.
Here’s the Latest:
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is gaining some key backing on Capitol Hill from GOP senators who fear the repercussions if Trump follows through with threats to try and remove the politically independent central banker.
As Trump seemingly waffled back and forth this week on trying to dismiss the Fed chair, some Republicans in Congress began to speak up and warn that such a move would be a mistake. Trump would potentially obliterate the Fed’s independence from political influence and inject uncertainty into the foundations of the U.S. economy if he fires Powell.
“If anybody thinks it would be a good idea for the Fed to become another agency in the government subject to the president, they’re making a huge mistake,” GOP North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis said in a floor speech.
The measure of support from GOP members of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs showed how traditional Republicans are carefully navigating a presidency in which Trump often flirts with ideas — like steep tariffs or firing the Fed chair — that threaten to undermine confidence in the U.S. economy.
