Congress Rejects Deep Cuts Sought in Trump's Budget

Congress is rejecting almost all of the deepest spending cuts President Trump proposed for this year, moving bipartisan funding bills that preserve money for foreign aid, global health, scientific research and cultural programs. On Wednesday the House voted 341 to 79 to pass two bills to fund the State and Treasury Departments and other foreign aid programs, including agencies the president had proposed eliminating.

Appropriators in both chambers have reached bipartisan agreement on eight of the 12 annual spending bills and are negotiating the rest ahead of a Jan. 30 shutdown deadline. Lawmakers are making modest trims to some programs and zeroing out a few, but they rejected a White House proposal to cancel $16.5 billion in previously approved funding for the Internal Revenue Service and kept funding for the National Science Foundation and NASA essentially flat.

The State Department and foreign assistance bill would provide over $19 billion more than Mr. Trump requested, though it would be about $9 billion below current levels. Some traditionally targeted programs will see only small cuts: Voice of America is set to receive about $653 million, roughly $500 million more than the administration had sought for an orderly shutdown and less than the $867 million Congress previously provided.

Key Topics

Politics, Donald Trump, U.s. Congress, State Department, Treasury Department, Internal Revenue Service