House passes bill to claw back $9.4B, codify cuts to PBS and NPR

House Republicans narrowly passed a bill Thursday to cut $9.4 billion worth of federal spending, effectively codifying several actions by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

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 214-212 vote sends the measure 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.”

The draft also notes that NPR CEO Katherine Maher once called Trump a “fascist” and a “deranged racist” — statements that Maher told Congress last month she now regrets making — and cites two recent PBS programs featuring transgender characters

Republicans had faced backlash last month after tech mogul Elon Musk publicly backed complaints that Congress hadn’t codified any of his DOGE work, despite promising to do so. That ultimately prompted GOP leadership to pledge to begin cementing his government efficiency initiatives into law.

Rescissions only allow Congress to cancel funding that had previously been appropriated for fiscal year 2025, in keeping with the Impoundment Control Act of 1974.

During his first term, Trump had only pursued one rescissions package totaling about $14.7 billion, which failed in the Senate by a 50-48 vote.

Former Presidents Joe Biden, Barack Obama and George W. Bush all declined to pursue rescissions packages, according to the Government Accountability Office.

The effort comes amid heightened pressure from fiscal hawks to rein in government spending. Trump’s marquee One Big Beautiful Bill Act features a net $1.25 trillion in spending cuts over the next 10 years, per the Congressional Budget Office.

The cuts in the megabill come from mandatory spending, particularly Medicaid. The rescission package only applies to discretionary spending, which is about a quarter of government outlays.

House Republicans had nestled a series of technical legislative fixes into the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which passed the lower chamber last month, into a procedural vote to advance the rescissions package Wednesday.

The House’s consideration of the rescission package comes in the wake of Musk’s dramatic blowup against Trump last week amid his concerns about the deficit impact of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

The megabill would add $3 trillion to the deficit over the next 10 years, according to a CBO estimate.