House GOP Passes DOGE Cuts by a Whisker After Chaos on Floor

The House Republicans successfully passed a rescissions package to cut $9.4 billion from foreign aid and public broadcasting Thursday, in the first major codification of President Donald Trump’s efforts to restructure the federal government.

The rescissions package, which targeted funding for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) as well as for National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), was passed on a vote of 214-212. 

A rescission bill is a cost-cutting piece of legislation, delivered by the president to Congress, that requires just a simple majority in both chambers. It’s a quick way for Congress to claw back discretionary funds.

The package includes cuts to spending, such as “$6 million for Net Zero Cities” in Mexico and “$6 million for supporting media organizations and civic life of Palestinians,” according to a press release from House Speaker Mike Johnson’s office.

House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris, R-Md., told The Daily Signal a few hours before the vote that he viewed it an important first step towards reducing government spending.

“This is a single step. It’s not a large amount of money, given the size of our budget deficit, and budget debt, and our federal debt, but it’s a start,” Harris told The Daily Signal.

A number of congressional Republicans told The Daily Signal before the vote that this would serve as a test of Republicans’ commitment in proposing cuts to the federal government.

Asked Wednesday if he thought Republicans would lose credibility if the bill failed, Rep. Mark Harris, R-N.C., told The Daily Signal, “I most definitely do.”

He added, “I find that hard to believe, and I don’t know of any Republicans right now [who are opposed]. I hear a rumor that there may be some opposed to this. I can’t imagine any Republican that would vote against this rescissions package, because we all ran on these things.”

Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., similarly told The Daily Signal in a statement that “voters last November handed President Trump a broad mandate to reduce the size of the federal government, and they damn well expect Congress to pass this legislation that keeps President Trump’s promise, or they will pay dearly next November.”

The day before the vote, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., made it clear that his party would provide little or no help in passing the package.

Asked Wednesday if any Democrats would back it, Jeffries replied, “I think there’s going to be strong Democratic opposition here in the House. We’re going to work hard to kill the legislation here.” The minority leader contended that the cuts to USAID would harm American interests abroad.

Jeffries added that the bill was “assaulting Bert, Ernie, Big Bird, Elmo, and all of the people connected to ‘Sesame Street.’”

“That’s extraordinary. I mean, who are these people?” he said.

“Sesame Street,” a children’s show, has aired on PBS since 1970.

But this vote was of extreme importance to the White House and to House leadership, who presented it as a way to make good on Trump’s promises to cut wasteful spending.

“This rescissions package is a strong first step toward advancing [the Department of Government Efficiency’s] mission and reining in reckless spending,” House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., told The Daily Signal in a statement Wednesday.

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