Senate passes $9 billion in budget cuts backed by Trump, public broadcasting among targets

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Senate has narrowly approved a new round of budget cuts totaling $9 billion, a plan largely pushed by President Donald Trump. The measure, passed overnight, would primarily target foreign aid programs, with $1 billion also being cut from funding that supports public broadcasting, including public radio and television.

Congressional Correspondent Nikole Killion reports that the Senate made several changes to the original proposal, including a notable exemption for PEPFAR, the global health program focused on fighting HIV/AIDS. “This will be going back to the House only because the Senate has made some additional tweaks to this package,most noticeably, exempting some global health funding under the PEPFAR program from being clawed back,” Killion said.

The bill now returns to the House of Representatives for a possible final vote. If approved, it must be signed by the president by late Friday to be included in the broader spending package passed earlier this month.