The legislation, requested by the White House, would codify spending cuts pursued by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.
The House voted on Thursday to claw back $9.4 billion that lawmakers had already approved for foreign aid and public broadcasting, as Republicans banded together to codify spending cuts put forward by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.
The 214-to-212 vote came after the White House asked Congress to formally approve the rollback, which had largely been enacted by executive order and DOGE. The request was something of a pivot for President Trump and his top officials, who have aggressively challenged Congress’s power of the purse and made clear that they are willing to steer around the legislative branch to try to unilaterally control federal spending.
In this case, though, the administration went through normal channels and asked Congress to go along with its efforts to redirect federal money from programs that have historically drawn substantial bipartisan support. The bulk of the funds targeted — $8.3 billion — is for foreign assistance programs. The remaining $1.1 billion is for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds NPR and PBS.
“America’s resources should always serve America’s interests,” said Representative Warren Davidson, Republican of Ohio. “The reality is the radical left has seized these institutions and wielded them for an agenda that doesn’t serve America’s interests.”
Four House Republicans joined Democrats in opposing the measure, which passed only after Speaker Mike Johnson pressed a handful of G.O.P. lawmakers who had initially voted “no” to support it. Those who broke with their party in opposition were Representatives Mark Amodei of Nevada, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Nicole Malliotakis of New York and Mike Turner of Ohio.
