Trump Seeks $9.4B in DOGE Cuts to Foreign Aid, Media

President Donald Trump has sent Congress a $9.4 billion rescissions package targeting foreign aid and public media funding, part of a broader GOP push to roll back previously approved spending and further the administration's agenda of government downsizing, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The proposed cuts include $8.3 billion from foreign aid programs and $1.1 billion from public broadcasting, and they may be the first in a series of similar cost-cutting proposals.

Republicans, who hold majorities in both the House and Senate, can approve the package with a simple majority. However, the measure's fate remains uncertain as debates over the size and scope of government spending continue within the GOP.

The package is expected to reinforce Republican support for cost-cutting measures even as some fiscal conservatives have criticized the party's recent tax and spending bill for not going far enough. That legislation, which includes cuts to Medicaid and food aid, passed the House last month and is now being considered in the Senate.

"This is about fiscal discipline and following through on our promises to the American people," said House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., "We're looking to eliminate wasteful spending and return accountability to the budget process."

According to the White House Office of Management and Budget, key cuts in the rescissions package include funding reductions for climate adaptation projects, such as $614,700 for coral reef restoration in the Caribbean and $500,000 for electric buses in Rwanda.

The Trump administration is also evaluating the use of a controversial tool known as impoundment, which would allow the president to withhold spending without congressional approval.

"We're certainly not taking impoundment off the table," OMB Director Russ Vought said Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union." He added that the administration is also considering "pocket rescissions," a tactic that would cause funds to expire at the end of the fiscal year if not acted upon.

Impoundment, restricted by the 1974 Impoundment Control Act after abuses during the Nixon administration, could lead to a constitutional showdown between Congress and the White House over budgetary authority.

"We're not in love with the law," Vought said.

Much of the administration's recent push for cuts has been inspired by Elon Musk's brief but influential tenure leading the Department of Government Efficiency. The new package includes rescissions tied to these efforts.

DOGE, the agency Musk led, claims to have saved $175 billion through asset sales, job cuts, and contract cancellations.

Meanwhile, National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service have sued the administration over an executive order to defund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, calling the action unconstitutional.

"The order stemmed from 'a desire to alter the content of speech,'" PBS argued in court, describing the move as "blatant viewpoint discrimination."

Democrat leaders have vowed to oppose the rescissions.

"If Republicans choose to go along with this rescission package, they will follow Trump at their peril," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said in a joint statement.