Rescissions package passes House, with help from all 3 Nebraska Congressmen

The U.S. House advanced a rescissions package Thursday that would codify more than $9 billion in cuts recommended by the Department of Government Efficiency.

The bill would slash $8.3 billion from foreign aid programs like USAID, the World Health Organization and several United Nations initiatives.

It would also cut more than $1 billion previously allocated to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which provides funding for NPR and PBS, as well as local operations like Nebraska Public Media.

Each of Nebraska’s three congressmen voted for the package, including Don Bacon, who had previously indicated he would vote against it due to concerns over cuts to the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, known as PEPFAR.

Thursday afternoon, Bacon initially voted against the rescissions package but later changed his vote.

“I was reassured by House Republican leadership that PBS would receive funding for next year, and it would go to annual funding after that,” Bacon said. “They also told me that PEPFAR funding for life-saving treatments will not be affected.  Because of these reassurances, I voted yes on H.R. 4.”

Congressman Mike Flood, who serves as vice chair of the Republican Main Street Caucus, released a joint statement alongside Chairman Dusty Johnson praising the result.

“This rescissions package codifies important spending cuts identified by the Trump administration,” it read. “This package ends funding for foreign programs that are antithetical to American values, stops woke gender and climate programs, and reins in wasteful spending. The Republican Main Street Caucus will continue to work with President Trump to get America’s fiscal house in order, and we look forward to additional rescissions packages that continue to stop waste, fraud, and abuse.”

Congressman Adrian Smith also shared his reasons for supporting the resolution.

"This bill is another step toward fiscal responsibility," he said. "I will certainly continue working with the administration and my colleagues to follow through on spending priorities overwhelmingly supported by the American people at the ballot box last November."

Nebraska Public Media CEO Stacey Decker said he was “deeply disappointed” with the vote’s outcome.

“If this rescission package passes, and we fail to find appropriations or funding for public media, we will have challenging times ahead for public media across the country, and I think for Nebraska Public Media, it means impact to local and national content,” he said.

Decker said Nebraska Public Media has been in contact with Nebraska’s federal delegation on a daily basis to make the case for federal funding.

“We'll be hopeful and be working with the delegation to try and prove our worth to the state of Nebraska and to the country, of course, and then beyond that, we'll look to work our way through the appropriations process to get funding put back in for public media,” he said.

The legislation now goes to the U.S. Senate, where it needs a simple majority to pass.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune has told reporters he plans to take up the rescissions package in July.