House narrowly passes DOGE cuts

House Republicans narrowly passed a $9.4 billion rescissions package that includes cuts to foreign aid as well as the entity that funds National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service.

The vote was a narrow 214-212 after some last-minute arm twisting from Republican leaders led to two Republican House members to change their vote on the bill from no to yes. All Democratic members of the House voted against the bill.

The so-called rescissions package axes approximately $8.3 billion previously allocated to the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and $1.1 billion to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which finances National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS).

The bill now goes to the Senate, where it will only need a simple majority to advance to President Trump’s desk. The rescissions package takes back funding that had been used for items such as an Iraqi version of “Sesame Street” ($3 million), constructing “Net Zero Cities” in Mexico ($6 million), and educating children on how to make environmentally friendly reproductive decisions ($2 million).

A draft White House memo first reported by The Post in April said the rescissions would target “waste, fraud, and abuse in Federal spending.” The memo, drafted by White House budget director Russ Vought — and requested by GOP congressional leaders — accused CPB of a “lengthy history of anti-conservative bias.”

It now looks like President Trump will get the DOGE cuts that he has wanted. But nothing is final until Trump signs the bill.