Sen. Dick Durbin calls $9B in cuts to foreign aid, public broadcasting a 'serious mistake'

Sen. Dick Durbin on Friday called a GOP-approved rescission package that guts $8 billion in foreign aid and $1.1 billion in public broadcasting funds “reckless” and warned that cuts to the United States Agency for International Development will cost lives.

The House late Thursday approved the rescission package requested by President Donald Trump after efforts to release files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein stalled the vote. Congress beat a Friday deadline to approve the package and sent it to Trump’s desk.

It marks the first time in decades that a president has succeeded in submitting a rescission request, and it's unlikely to be the last such ask.

“I think this was a reckless decision. Cutting back on foreign assistance is literally going to condemn a lot of innocent people to death," Durbin said in a news briefing at Chicago Public Media’s Navy Pier office. "In this situation, when it comes to basic information in a democracy, to end $1 billion, which is large by most standards but not by federal standards, is a statement by this president that he’s declaring war on this entity. I think that’s a serious mistake.

“The fact that so many people of all political faiths believe in public broadcasting should tell the president that they are not politically biased.”

CPM is a nonprofit that owns both the Chicago Sun-Times and WBEZ.

Heather Norman, president of the Illinois Public Broadcasting Council, said 70% of the funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting went to independently owned and operated public media stations, not NPR and PBS, which Trump and Republicans have targeted.

“They are independent, locally controlled and owned news, cultural and educational organizations that serve their communities — that go above and beyond to serve their communities,” Norman said. “That includes some of the services of district distribution for low-income children, reading and information services for the visually impaired, emergency alerts, like the recent derecho wind and dust storms in Illinois, curated music programs that feature local musicians and give them exposure for future local symphonies.”

There are limited funding options for public media stations in rural Illinois. Norman said two public television stations — one in the Quad Cities and another at Eastern Illinois University — are in danger of shutting down because they rely on federal funds for 50% of their budget.

“It’s going to be very difficult for them to continue after those cuts,” Norman said. “I can tell you that we are beginning to hold conversations as a state system about where to find them efficiencies so that we can preserve services for everyone in Illinois.”

Funding provided from the state by the Illinois Arts Council is also unlikely to increase, as the state grapples with large-scale budgetary challenges, like the public transportation funding crisis and the upcoming effects of health care coverage cuts from the GOP tax bill.

Durbin said it will be difficult for Democrats to try to reappropriate funds for public broadcasting in the next budget cycle, before midterm elections.

"I think it will be difficult to change. I'm not saying impossible. I mean, extremely difficult to do that," Durbin said. "This is an odd funding situation. We fund two years in advance when it comes to public broadcasting, so they're taking money away in funding from years gone by. It's tough to catch up and make up the difference. That doesn't mean we shouldn't try, and we will be happy to support them."

Melissa Bell, CPM's chief executive officer, told WBEZ listeners Friday morning that the rescission package equates to an annual $3 million hit for the station, but she said it will not hurt the Chicago news organization as much as those serving rural Illinois.

"We will be here. We are going to continue to work to make the best product out there possible at WBEZ, and the Sun-Times, and Chicago Public Media writ large," she said. "We're not going away."

The foreign aid cuts, earmarked by former Trump adviser Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, include $800 million for a program that provides emergency shelter, water and sanitation and family reunification for those who flee their own countries and $496 million to provide food, water and health care for countries hit by natural disasters and conflicts.

There also is a $4.15 billion cut to programs that aim to boost economies and democratic institutions in developing nations, according to the Associated Press.

This story was reported, written and edited by members of the Chicago Public Media editorial staff. Under CPM’s protocol, no CPM corporate official or executive leader external to the newsroom reviewed this story before it was posted publicly.