(The Center Square) – Congress will soon vote on the White House’s rescissions package that would pull billions in taxpayer dollars from foreign aid and public broadcasting programs.

The package, compiled by the Office of Management and Budget, requests the cancellation of $9.4 billion in already appropriated spending. This includes $8.3 billion for non-life saving foreign assistance and $1.1 billion for public broadcasting systems. Only a majority vote is needed in both chambers in order for the measure to pass.

OMB Director Russell Vought said the rescissions would eliminate “programs that are antithetical to American interests” and a “politically biased” public media system. These goals are consistent with the Department of Government Efficiency’s controversial efforts to slash federal spending.

Among other foreign assistance programs, the rescissions package rescinds $2.5 billion from total funds appropriated for Developmental Assistance and $1.7 billion from the Economic Support Fund, which OMB says have in practice conflicted with American interests and subsidized ideological projects.

Global Health Programs run by the U.S, Agency for International Development (USAID) would lose a total of $900 million. OMB says the decisions would not reduce treatment for HIV, AIDS, infectious diseases, or child and maternal health.

Instead, it would eliminate programs “that are antithetical to American interests and worsen the lives of women and children, like ‘family planning’ and ‘reproductive health,’ LGBTQI+ activities, and ‘equity’ programs,” the proposal says.

The Clean Technology Fund, which invests in renewable energy projects like electric buses and solar panels in developing countries, would also lose $125 million in funding.

DOGE and the Trump administration have zeroed in on what they view as wasteful foreign aid programs, especially those related to gender and climate initiatives.

Foreign aid experts have mixed opinions on how foreign aid cuts have impacted vulnerable populations globally. The rescissions package repeals $800 million, or nearly a third of the Migration and Refugee Assistance — which provides overseas humanitarian assistance through the State department — fiscal year 2025 budget. OMB argues that American taxpayers should not have to shoulder the brunt of overseas assistance.

OMB also argues that taxpayers should not have to subsidize the “politically biased” Corporation for Public Broadcasting, calling it an “unnecessary expense.” The package pulls back roughly $1.1 billion from the CPB budget appropriated for fiscal years 2024 through 2027.

The nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget praised the package as “a first step toward the major deficit reduction this country needs.”

“Rescissions packages can reduce the amount we spend and actually put that money to deficit reduction,” CRFB President Maya MacGuineas said. “They offer a way to actually codify some of the ‘DOGE’ savings into law, giving the President the opportunity to identify spending cuts and the Congress the chance to enact them.”