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House Panel Approves Spending Bill That Rejects Some Trump Foreign Aid Cuts
The Republican-led House Appropriations Committee put forth legislation that would slash the foreign aid and State Department budget but salvage some programs that the president wants to defund.
House Panel Approves Spending Bill That Rejects Some Trump Foreign Aid Cuts
The Republican-led House Appropriations Committee put forth legislation that would slash the foreign aid and State Department budget but salvage some programs that the president wants to defund.
“… The measure, if enacted, would still slash the foreign aid and the State Department budget compared with the current year, cutting it by 22 percent, to $46.2 billion. But House Republicans moved to salvage key programs that Mr. Trump is seeking to eliminate altogether, such as for peacekeeping activities, supporting democracies abroad and global health initiatives for family planning and reproductive care.
It would also provide more than four times the funding that the president has requested for international broadcasting activities, despite Mr. Trump’s push to shut down the Voice of Americaand other federally funded news organizations that provide independent coverage in countries with limited press freedom.
Yet even as they voted to provide money for programs the president wants to gut, Republicans proposed handing the White House more power to ignore Congress’ spending dictates altogether. They removed standard language from the spending measure that makes it more difficult for the executive branch to cancel spending that Congress has approved. That drew angry protests from Democrats, who accused the G.O.P. of abdicating the power of the purse.…”