White House likely to send another rescissions package to Congress
White House budget chief Russell Vought said Thursday that the administration is likely to send another rescissions package to Congress to claw back previously approved spending.
Vought’s comments came as Republicans on Capitol Hill appeared poised to revoke $9 billion in previously approved federal funding as part of an initial package of cuts put forward by the White House.
“I don’t want to get ahead of the package itself,” Vought said of a future proposal during an event hosted by the Christian Science Monitor.
Vought did not provide specifics about what funds would be targeted or a timeline for when the next package would be sent to Congress, but told reporters, "It's likely to come soon.”
The administration has targeted government spending for cuts it has deemed wasteful or that does not align with the president's "America first" agenda.
“There is still a great enthusiasm for these rescissions bills,” Vought said.
The $9 billion package, which was passed by the Senate early Thursday morning and will head to the House for a final vote, targets money for global aid programs and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds National Public Radio and PBS, organizations President Trump and his allies accuse of liberal bias.
The White House agreed to an amendment to remove from the package $400 million in cuts to the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief global anti-AIDS initiative in the face of GOP pushback.
Even as the bill is expected to reach the president’s desk once it passes the GOP-controlled House, some Republicans have expressed frustration about a perceived lack of information in the White House’s request.
Vought pushed back on those criticisms Thursday. He argued the administration provided the same amount of detail as previous rescissions packages, laying out dollar amounts for programs the administration wanted to cut.
“People always want more detail,” Vought said. “We provided all the detail that was needed.”