BY KEVIN FREKING AND MARY CLARE JALONICK
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has passed about $9 billion in federal spending cuts requested by President Donald Trump, including deep reductions to public broadcasting and foreign aid, moving forward on one of the president’s top priorities despite concerns from several Republican senators.
The legislation, which now moves to the House, would have a tiny impact on the nation’s rising debt but could have major ramifications for the targeted spending, from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to U.S. food aid programs abroad.
It also could complicate efforts to pass additional spending bills this year, as Democrats and even some Republicans have argued they are ceding congressional spending powers to Trump with little idea of how the White House Office of Management and Budget would apply the cuts.
The 51-48 vote came after 2 a.m. Thursday after Democrats sought to remove many of the proposed rescissions during 12 hours of amendment votes. None of the Democratic amendments were adopted.
At a news conference, House Speaker Mike Johnson says Congress has until the end of the week to pass a bill that fulfills President Trump’s request to cancel $9.4 billion in previously approved spending.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said Republicans were using the president’s rescissions request to target wasteful spending. He said it is a “small but important step for fiscal sanity that we all should be able to agree is long overdue.”