The package, passed in a 51-48 vote, takes back $8bn in already approved foreign aid spending.

United States senators have passed a package of sweeping cuts that would slash Washington’s foreign aid expenditures by about $8bn as part of President Donald Trump’s pledge to drastically shrink federal spending.

The package, which passed in a 51-48 vote early on Thursday, cancels $9bn in spending already approved by Congress, including more than $1bn to be stripped from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Two of the Senate’s 53 Republicans voted with Democrats against the legislation.

The vote was seen as a test of how easily senators would approve spending cuts recommended by Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

The president, who has made slashing federal spending a domestic priority, established the department and had put billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk at the helm to identify areas for government cost-cutting before the SpaceX and Tesla CEO left in May. A public spat between Musk and Trump over deficit spending erupted a short time later.

Food for starving children in Afghanistan, Pakistan to be burned 

Much of the $8bn in foreign aid cuts under the “rescissions” package, which now returns to the House of Representatives for final approval, had been allocated to the now-defunct US Agency for International Development (USAID), a prime target for DOGE.

The agency, which was established during the Cold War to run aid programmes and project US soft power internationally, closed its doors this month after the Trump administration’s announcement in January that it was shutting down USAID.

Within the funding that was cut was $4.15bn to boost economies and strengthen democratic institutions in developing countries, The Associated Press news agency reported.

The package also cancelled $800m for a programme that assists with emergency shelter, water, sanitation and family reunification for people fleeing their homelands as well as $496m for food, water and healthcare in countries affected by natural disasters or conflicts.

A senior US official said on Wednesday that nearly 500 tonnes of high-energy biscuits intended to feed 27,000 starving children in Afghanistan and Pakistan would soon be incinerated due to the Trump administration’s decision to shut down USAID.

‘A bunch of junk’

Democrats argued that weakening foreign aid efforts would diminish the US’s global status and leave a vacuum that would be filled by rivals like China.

Senator Brian Schatz said cutting food aid and disease prevention measures was having life-and-death consequences, AP reported.

“People are dying right now, not in spite of us but because of us,” he said.

But Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican, told the AFP news agency that while he was a “big fan” of foreign aid and the soft power it brought, he believed money was being wasted.

“When you start spending money on a bunch of junk and liberal programmes disconnected from the purpose of the aid package, it makes it difficult on a guy like me,” he said.

Republican leaders had removed a $400m cut to an HIV prevention programme from the package after requests from its own lawmakers. The programme is credited with saving millions of lives.

US Constitution’s ideals ‘undermined’

The cuts to public broadcasting, which Republicans have accused of having a left-wing bias, also met with fierce objections. Democrats said they would remove a key public service that performs a vital role, particularly during emergencies like natural disasters.

The package cancels $1.1bn that the Corporation for Public Broadcasting was due to receive over the next two years. It would help fund National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) as well as more than 1,500 local radio and television stations.

Democrats said the rescissions package, by cutting $9bn from a $6.8 trillion federal budget, would do little to meaningfully tackle the deficit but would harm important public institutions.

“It is yet another example of the spirit and ideals of our constitution being undermined in a terrible way,” New Jersey Senator Cory Booker told AFP.

Others, including Senator Mitch McConnell, the former Republican Senate leader, expressed concerns about ceding congressional spending powers to the president, saying he was worried about handing the White House a “blank cheque” on spending issues, AP reported. But he ultimately voted to approve the package.

Source:

Al Jazeera and news agencies