US Senate Approves Trump-Sponsored $9bn Spending Cuts

In a late-night session that ran more than two hours past midnight, the United States Senate on Thursday narrowly approved a sweeping package of spending cuts championed by President Donald Trump, slashing over $9 billion from foreign aid programs and public broadcasting.

The controversial measure, viewed as the first major test of the spending reforms proposed by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), passed with a vote of 51 to 48, despite significant opposition from both sides of the aisle.

Though unpopular among some lawmakers, particularly due to its impact on international health programs, the Republican-controlled Senate advanced the bill, paving the way for what could be the first successful “rescissions package” in decades—legislation aimed at clawing back funds already allocated by Congress.

The original version of the bill, passed by the House of Representatives in June, proposed eliminating $400 million in global health spending, including funding for PEPFAR—the U.S.-led global AIDS relief initiative established by former President George W. Bush, credited with saving over 26 million lives. However, that proposal was removed after pushback from moderate Republican senators.

“I’ve been a big fan of the foreign aid accounts… I’m a big hawkish guy, but you need foreign aid. You need soft power,” said South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham.

“But when you start spending money on a bunch of junk, and liberal programs disconnected from the purpose of the aid package, it makes it difficult on a guy like me.”

The bill now returns to the House for final approval before Friday. If lawmakers fail to act by then, the White House will be legally required to release the withheld funds as originally budgeted.

The vote also exposed internal GOP divisions, with around a dozen Republican senators initially voicing concern about ceding congressional power over spending to the executive branch. President Trump, however, warned he would withhold endorsements from any Republican who defied the measure.

“This is a bunch of my colleagues in thrall of the president, surrendering the powers of us, and the urgency for us to work together and do it in a bipartisan way to improve budgets,” said Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey.

“It is yet another example of the spirit and ideals of our Constitution being undermined in a terrible way. We are a nation that believes that (Congress) has a real role,” he added.

The rescissions package includes approximately $8 billion in cuts to foreign aid, much of it targeting funds for USAID, a key focus of DOGE’s cost-cutting campaign. Another $1 billion is being withdrawn from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds National Public Radio (NPR), the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), and more than 1,500 local media stations.

Conservatives have long accused NPR and PBS of political bias, and in May, President Trump signed an executive order to eliminate federal funding for both networks.

Democrats argue the move does little to reduce the deficit but significantly harms reliable public information sources. They also question DOGE’s savings record, noting that although the department claims to have saved $190 billion, fact-checkers dispute the figure, citing prior inconsistencies in its accounting.

Elon Musk, who led DOGE after spending $290 million to support Trump’s election campaign, had once promised to save $2 trillion in federal spending. However, his tenure ended abruptly in late May following disagreements with the president over deficit control.

Thursday’s Senate vote may mark only the beginning of a broader effort by Republicans to institutionalize DOGE-led cuts—a sign that fiscal battles in Washington are far from over.