U.S. Republicans early on Friday, July 18th, approved President Donald Trump’s plan to cancel $9 billion in funding for foreign aid and public broadcasting.
Republicans said the vote honored Trump’s election campaign pledge to rein in runaway spending.
“President Trump and House Republicans promised fiscal responsibility and government efficiency,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said in a statement just after the vote. “Today, we’re once again delivering on that promise.”
Both chambers of Congress are Republican-controlled, meaning a mostly party-line House of Representatives vote of 216 to 213, moments after midnight, was sufficient to approve the Senate-passed measure.
The bill now heads to the White House to be signed by Trump, who praised his backers in the House.
“REPUBLICANS HAVE TRIED DOING THIS FOR 40 YEARS, AND FAILED… BUT NO MORE. THIS IS BIG!!!” he wrote on Truth Social.
Conservatives say the funding—which goes mostly to more than 1,500 local public radio and TV stations, as well as to public broadcasters NPR and PBS—is unnecessary and has funded biased coverage.
