House Narrowly Passes $9B Rescissions Bill Slashing Foreign Aid and Public Broadcasting as Trump Set to Sign

By a 216–213 margin, the House approved the Rescissions Act of 2025, slashing $8B from USAID and $1B from public broadcasting—including a $1.3M hit to WTJX—while critics warn of severe global and domestic fallout as the bill heads to Trump’s desk.

In a narrow but consequential vote early Friday morning, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a controversial rescissions package that will claw back billions in federal spending, including substantial cuts to international aid programs and public broadcasting. The bill passed by a 216–213 margin, with all but two Republicans voting in favor and all Democrats opposed.

The legislation, which follows Senate passage earlier this week, now heads to President Donald Trump’s desk for his signature. It is expected to be signed into law promptly, marking a major victory for the administration’s push to rein in what it calls “wasteful government spending.”

The measure, formally titled the Rescissions Act of 2025, directs a total of $9 billion in budget rollbacks. About $8 billion will be drawn from foreign assistance programs administered by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), while another $1 billion will be taken from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which helps fund NPR, PBS, and more than 1,500 local affiliate stations across the country. WTJX is expected to lose $1.3 million, with CEO Tanya Marie-Singh described the cut as having "a catastrophic effect on public media nationwide."

Supporters of the bill argue that the cuts are long overdue and reflect a refocusing of federal resources on domestic priorities. “We have to make hard decisions to restore fiscal sanity,” said House Appropriations Chair Mark Harris (R-TX). “Foreign governments and elite media corporations should not be guaranteed perpetual funding from the American taxpayer.”