Trump Asks Congress To Rescind Funding For Public Broadcasting, Foreign Aid
President Donald Trump asked Congress on Tuesday to rescind more than $9 billion in funding it already approved for public broadcasters, foreign aid and global health efforts, taking aim at those initiatives as 'wasteful' and 'woke.'
The requested cuts are part of a process known as rescission, in which the president can ask Congress to remove funding commitments from the budget.
'They have 45 days to codify these massive cuts to woke, wasteful, and weaponized spending via a simple majority vote,' the White House Office of Management and Budget said in a statement.
The single biggest cut Trump is requesting is a $1.1 billion funding commitment to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds NPR and PBS. Leaders of both news outlets said the rescission would strip Americans of vital sources of information while cutting very little in costs.
'This rescission would have a negligible impact on reducing the deficit and provide little-to-no savings for taxpayers, yet it would harm all Americans, shutting off access to local news, national reporting, music and regional culture, and emergency alerting,' NPR's CEO Katherine Maher said in a lengthy statement.
NPR is responsible for receiving and distributing 'Presidential-level emergency alerts' within minutes, she noted.
'Rescission would irreparably harm communities across America who count on public media for 24/7 news, music, cultural and educational programming, and emergency alerting services,' she said, noting that private media companies have not been willing to take on those commitments.
Paula Kerger, the president and CEO of PBS, raised similar concerns, saying the impacts will especially be felt at 'smaller and rural stations that rely on federal funding for a larger portion of their budgets.'
The proposed funding removals would write into law some of the cuts initiated by Elon Musk when he was running the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, which he stepped down from last week.
Other requested cuts include millions to the President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief, orPEPFAR, a Bush-era program credited with saving 25 million lives.
Rep. Susan Collins (R-Maine) told reporters she wouldn't support any reductions to PEPFAR, calling it 'possibly the most successful public health program that has ever been used in Africa and other parts of the world.'
Skepticism from more Republicans could spell trouble for the rescission package given the GOP's slim majority in the Senate. But Trump's staff is already preparing to ask for more cuts.
'If they pass this, we'll send up many more,' White House budget director Russ Vought said on Fox News, referring to rescission packages.
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