华盛顿-参议院共和党人将测试政府效率部本周削减支出，旨在通过唐纳德·特朗普总统的要求，收回94亿美元的公共媒体和对外援助支出。
参议院民主党人试图扼杀这项措施，但需要一些对总统的努力感到不安的共和党人加入他们的行列。
特朗普的共和党政府正在使用一种很少使用的工具，允许总统传达请求取消先前批准的拨款授权。这一请求触发了45天的冻结时间。如果国会未能在此期间采取行动，那么支出将保持不变。那个钟星期五到期。
房子已经批准了特朗普的请求以214比212的票数领先。参议院几乎没有时间赶在总统签字的最后期限之前。如果参议员修改立法，将需要另一次众议院投票，这给结果增加了更多的不确定性。
让我们仔细看看本周的辩论。
特朗普要求立法者撤销近11亿美元的公共广播公司，表示在接下来的两个预算年度中应该收到的全部金额。
白宫表示，公共媒体系统存在政治偏见，是不必要的支出。
该公司将超过三分之二的资金分配给1500多家当地经营的公共电视台和广播电台，其余大部分分配给国家公共电台和公共广播系统，以支持国家节目制作。
削减地方公共媒体站的潜在后果已经引起了两党的关注。
共和党参议员迈克·朗斯(Mike Rounds)说，他担心取消禁令会对他所在州向印第安人广播的电台造成影响。他说他们的绝大部分资金来自联邦政府。
“它们本质上不是政治性的，”Rounds谈到这些电台时说。“在我们州的偏远地区，这是唯一真正交流的方式，其他许多州也是如此。”
阿拉巴马州参议员莉萨·穆尔科斯基。她说，对于她所在州的部落广播电台来说，“几乎有很多人说，如果公共广播基金不再向他们提供，他们就会倒闭。”
为了证明削减支出的合理性，特朗普政府和共和党议员列举了他们不同意的某些活动，将一系列项目的资金描述为浪费。
在…里最近的证词美国行政管理和预算局局长拉斯·沃特批评了旨在培养多样性、公平和包容。他说，NPR在2022年播出了一个名为“动物王国里‘酷儿鸭’可以教给青少年什么样的性知识”的节目他还引用了美国有线电视新闻网(CNN)2020年与“芝麻街”一起举办的关于打击种族主义的特别市政厅。
作为一揽子计划的一部分，特朗普要求立法者取消约83亿美元的对外援助项目，这些项目旨在抗击饥荒和疾病，促进全球稳定。
这些目标包括:
——9亿美元用于防治艾滋病毒/艾滋病、疟疾和其他疾病，并加强检测系统以防止更广泛的流行病。
——8亿美元用于一个项目，为那些被迫逃离自己国家的人提供紧急避难所、水和卫生设施以及家庭团聚。
——41.5亿美元用于两个项目，旨在促进发展中国家和具有重要战略意义的国家的经济和民主制度。
——4.96亿美元用于向遭受自然灾害和冲突的国家提供食品、水和医疗保健等人道主义援助。
一些医疗削减是针对一个名为PEPFAR的项目，该项目由共和党总统乔治·w·布什发起，旨在发展中国家抗击艾滋病。该计划被认为挽救了2600万人的生命，并得到了两党的广泛支持。
在总统艾滋病紧急救援计划上，沃特告诉参议员们，“这些削减是外科手术，特别是保留救命的援助。”但许多议员持谨慎态度，称他们还没有看到政府将具体削减哪些支出的细节。
政府还表示，一些削减，如取消对联合国儿童基金会的资助，将鼓励国际组织提高效率，并寻求其他国家的捐助，“把美国纳税人放在第一位”
美国领导人经常认为，通过“软实力”帮助其他国家不仅是正确的事情，也是明智的事情。
参议员米奇·麦康奈尔。，告诉沃特“有很多伪装成美国援助的绝对胡说八道，不应该再接受一点纳税人的资金，”但他称政府试图根除它是“不必要的混乱”
麦康奈尔告诉沃特:“在全球的关键角落，你没有创造效率，而是为像中国这样的对手创造了真空。”
总统在他的社交媒体网站上发出警告，直接针对可能考虑投票反对削减的参议院共和党人个人。
他说，重要的是所有的共和党人都遵守该法案，特别是撤销对公共广播公司的资助。
“任何投票允许这个怪物继续广播的共和党人都不会得到我的支持或认可，”他说。
对于寻求连任的个别共和党人来说，特朗普努力击败他们的前景是暂停的理由，也可能是一揽子计划摇摇欲坠的迹象。
共和党全国委员会参议员托姆·蒂利斯选择宣布他将不寻求连任最近，当总统投票决定不推进特朗普的大规模计划时，他呼吁参议员的主要挑战者税收和开支削减法案.
在由100名成员组成的参议院面前，支出法案几乎总是需要一些两党的支持才能通过。这是因为这些法案需要60票来克服阻碍议案通过的障碍。但本周的努力有所不同。
当共和党人理查德·尼克松(Richard Nixon)担任总统时，国会设立了一个程序，迅速考虑收回先前批准的支出授权的请求。根据这些程序，只需要参议院的简单多数就可以将总统的请求推进到最终投票。
这是一个很少使用的策略。1992年，共和党人乔治H.W布什总统在他的减税请求上取得了一些成功，尽管最终的法案包括了总统要求的一些削减和许多没有的削减。王牌提议取消38项任务但该方案在参议院停滞不前。
如果参议员投票接受该法案，它可能会进行10个小时的辩论，并对几十个可能棘手的修正案进行投票，这就是所谓的投票。
民主党人认为总统的要求是为了削弱参议院的阻挠议事。他们警告说，如果几个月后共和党人转过身来，利用他们的多数席位来削减他们不喜欢的部分，那么期望他们与共和党议员在两党支出措施上合作是荒谬的。
参议院民主党领袖查克·舒默(Chuck Schumer)在给同事的一封信中提出了严厉的警告:“共和党人如何回答这个关于废除和其他即将到来的问题的问题，将对国会、立法部门的作用以及更重要的是，我们的国家产生严重影响，”舒默说。
参议院多数党领袖约翰·图恩注意到了这一警告。
“我很失望地看到民主党领导人在他最近的亲爱的同事信中含蓄地威胁要关闭政府，”图恩说。
特朗普政府将第一个废除计划比作一个测试案例，并表示如果国会同意，可能会有更多的废除计划。
A Senate vote this week will test the popularity of DOGE spending cuts
WASHINGTON --Senate Republicans will test the popularity ofDepartment of Government Efficiencyspending cuts this week by aiming to pass President Donald Trump’s request to claw back $9.4 billion in public media and foreign aid spending.
Senate Democrats are trying to kill the measure but need a few Republicans uncomfortable with the president's effort to join them.
Trump's Republican administration is employing a rarely used tool that allows the president totransmit a requestto cancel previously approved funding authority. The request triggers a 45-day clock under which the funds are frozen. If Congress fails to act within that period, then the spending stands. That clock expires Friday.
The House has alreadyapproved Trump's requeston a mostly party line 214-212 vote. The Senate has little time to spare to beat the deadline for the president's signature. Another House vote will be needed if senators amend the legislation, adding more uncertainty to the outcome.
Here's a closer look at this week's debate.
Trump has asked lawmakers to rescind nearly $1.1 billion fromthe Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which represents the full amount it’s due to receive during the next two budget years.
The White House says the public media system is politically biased and an unnecessary expense.
The corporation distributes more than two-thirds of the money to more than 1,500 locally operated public television and radio stations, with much of the remainder assigned to National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting System to support national programming.
The potential fallout from the cuts for local pubic media stations has generated concerns on both sides of the political aisle.
Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., said he's worried about how the rescissions will hit radio stations that broadcast to Native Americans in his state. He said the vast majority of their funding comes from the federal government.
“They're not political in nature,” Rounds said of the stations. “It's the only way of really communicating in the very rural areas of our state, and a lot of other states as well."
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Ala., said that for the tribal radio stations in her state, “almost to a number, they’re saying that they will go under if public broadcasting funds are no longer available to them.”
To justify the spending cuts, the Trump administration and Republican lawmakers have cited certain activities they disagree with to portray a wide range of a program’s funding as wasteful.
Inrecent testimony, Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought criticized programming aimed at fosteringdiversity, equity, and inclusion. He said NPR aired a 2022 program entitled “What ‘Queer Ducks’ can teach teenagers about sexuality in the animal kingdom." He also cited a special town hall that CNN held in 2020 with “Sesame Street” about combatting racism.
As part of the package, Trump has asked lawmakers to rescind about $8.3 billion in foreign aid programs that aim to fight famine and disease and promote global stability.
Among the targets:
— $900 million to combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases and strengthen detections systems to prevent wider epidemics.
— $800 million for a program that provides emergency shelter, water and sanitation and family reunification for those forced to flee their own country.
— $4.15 billion for two programs designed to boost the economies and democratic institutions in developing and strategically important countries.
— $496 million to provide humanitarian assistance such as food, water and health care for countries hit by natural disasters and conflicts.
Some of the health cuts are aimed at a program known as PEPFAR, which President George W. Bush, a Republican, began to combat HIV/AIDS in developing countries. The program is credited with saving 26 million lives and has broad bipartisan support.
On PEPFAR, Vought told senators "these cuts are surgical and specifically preserve life-saving assistance.” But many lawmakers are wary, saying they've seen no details about where specifically the administration will cut.
The administration also said some cuts, such as eliminating funding for UNICEF, would encourage international organizations to be more efficient and seek contributions from other nations, “putting American taxpayers first.”
U.S. leaders have often argued that aiding other nations through “soft power” is not just the right thing to do but also the smart thing.
Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told Vought there is “plenty of absolute nonsense masquerading as American aid that shouldn’t receive another bit of taxpayer funding,” but he called the administration's attempt to root it out “unnecessarily chaotic.”
"In critical corners of the globe, instead of creating efficiencies, you’ve created vacuums for adversaries like China to fill," McConnell told Vought.
The president has issued a warning on his social media site directly aimed at individual Senate Republicans who may be considering voting against the cuts.
He said it was important that all Republicans adhere to the bill and in particular defund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
“Any Republican that votes to allow this monstrosity to continue broadcasting will not have my support or Endorsement,” he said.
For individual Republicans seeking reelection, the prospect of Trump working to defeat them is reason for pause and could be a sign the package is teetering.
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., opted to announce he wouldnot seek reelectionrecently after the president called for a primary challenger to the senator when he voted not to advance Trump's massivetax and spending cut bill.
Spending bills before the 100-member Senate almost always need some bipartisan buy-in to pass. That's because the bills need 60 votes to overcome a filibuster and advance. But this week's effort is different.
Congress set up a process back when Republican Richard Nixon was president for speedily considering a request to claw back previously approved spending authority. Under those procedures, it takes only a simple Senate majority to advance the president's request to a final vote.
It's a rarely employed maneuver. In 1992, President George H.W. Bush, a Republican, had some success with his rescissions request, though the final bill included some cuts requested by the president and many that were not. Trumpproposed 38 rescissionsin 2018, but the package stalled in the Senate.
If senators vote to take up the bill, it sets up the potential for 10 hours of debate plus votes on scores of potentially thorny amendments in what is known as a vote-a-rama.
Democrats see the president's request as an effort to erodethe Senate filibuster. They warn it's absurd to expect them to work with GOP lawmakers on bipartisan spending measures if Republicans turn around a few months later and use their majority to cut the parts they don't like.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer offered a stern warning in a letter to colleagues: “How Republicans answer this question on rescissions and other forthcoming issues will have grave implications for the Congress, the very role of the legislative branch, and, more importantly, our country,” Schumer said.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., took note of the warning.
“I was disappointed to see the Democrat leader in his recent Dear Colleague letter implicitly threaten to shut down the government," Thune said.
The Trump administration is likening the first rescissions package to a test case and says more could be on the way if Congress goes along.
