President Donald Trump is one step closer to having Congress officially sign off on a slice of his Department of Government Efficiency’s spending cuts after Senate Republicans agreed in the early hours of Thursday morning to cancel $9 billion in funding to foreign aid and public broadcasting.

The package now returns to the House for final approval, where it must pass by a Friday deadline mandated under the budget rules Republicans are using to move the package without Democratic votes. If successful, it will then head to Trump’s desk, where he’s expected to sign the partisan push to claw back federal dollars that Congress had already sent out the door.

While most Senate Republicans firmly embraced the spending cuts and are pressing for more, some within the party raised concerns over the White House push, arguing that it set a harmful precedent undermining congressional authority. Two Republicans opposed the measure on the final vote: Sen. Susan Collins, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, and Sen. Lisa Murkowski. The final tally was 51-48.

Roughly $8 billion will be taken from congressionally approved foreign aid programs as part of the White House’s efforts to dismantle the US Agency for International Development. Another $1.1 billion comes from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which helps fund NPR and PBS.

President Donald Trump is one step closer to having Congress officially sign off on a slice of his Department of Government Efficiency’s spending cuts after Senate Republicans agreed in the early hours of Thursday morning to cancel $9 billion in funding to foreign aid and public broadcasting.

 

While most Senate Republicans firmly embraced the spending cuts and are pressing for more, some within the party raised concerns over the White House push, arguing that it set a harmful precedent undermining congressional authority. Two Republicans opposed the measure on the final vote: Sen. Susan Collins, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, and Sen. Lisa Murkowski. The final tally was 51-48.

Roughly $8 billion will be taken from congressionally approved foreign aid programs as part of the White House’s efforts to dismantle the US Agency for International Development. Another $1.1 billion comes from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which helps fund NPR and PBS.

The package now returns to the House for final approval, where it must pass by a Friday deadline mandated under the budget rules Republicans are using to move the package without Democratic votes. If successful, it will then head to Trump’s desk, where he’s expected to sign the partisan push to claw back federal dollars that Congress had already sent out the door.

While most Senate Republicans firmly embraced the spending cuts and are pressing for more, some within the party raised concerns over the White House push, arguing that it set a harmful precedent undermining congressional authority. Two Republicans opposed the measure on the final vote: Sen. Susan Collins, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, and Sen. Lisa Murkowski. The final tally was 51-48.

While most Senate Republicans firmly embraced the spending cuts and are pressing for more, some within the party raised concerns over the White House push, arguing that it set a harmful precedent undermining congressional authority. Two Republicans opposed the measure on the final vote: Sen. Susan Collins, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, and Sen. Lisa Murkowski. The final tally was 51-48.

Roughly $8 billion will be taken from congressionally approved foreign aid programs as part of the White House’s efforts to dismantle the US Agency for International Development. Another $1.1 billion comes from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which helps fund NPR and PBS.

While most Senate Republicans firmly embraced the spending cuts and are pressing for more, some within the party raised concerns over the White House push, arguing that it set a harmful precedent undermining congressional authority. Two Republicans opposed the measure on the final vote: Sen. Susan Collins, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, and Sen. Lisa Murkowski. The final tally was 51-48.

Roughly $8 billion will be taken from congressionally approved foreign aid programs as part of the White House’s efforts to dismantle the US Agency for International Development. Another $1.1 billion comes from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which helps fund NPR and PBS.