The Senate recently passed a rescission package, the Rescissions Act of 2025, which proposes canceling nearly $9 billion in already-approved funding for the State Department, the US Agency for International Development (USAID), and other independent agencies and organizations — including the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
What is a rescission package?
A rescission cancels previously approved funding, and a rescissions package is a formal request to cut funding in multiple areas.
Under the Impoundment Control Act, the President can propose delaying or canceling funds Congress has already approved and Congress has 45 continuous legislative days to enact or reject the proposal. During this period, the executive branch can temporarily withhold the funds. If Congress takes no action, the funds must be released as originally planned.
The Rescission Act of 2025 was introduced in the House on June 6, 2025. The House passed it on June 12, and the Senate on July 16.
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Proposed cuts to foreign aid
The Rescissions Act proposes approximately $7.9 billion in funding cuts to foreign aid and international spending, including for economic assistance, disaster assistance, health programs, and peacekeeping activities.
Currently, more than 20 federal agencies fund foreign assistance and report their activities through the State Department and USAID. According to the most recent data, the US committed $99.8 billion in foreign aid to 172 countries in the 2023 fiscal year, a 77-year high. Of that, 60% was for economic purposes and 40% for military.
In FY 2024, USAID accounted for 0.3% of all federal spending, or $21.7 billion — the third year in a row it spent more than $20 billion. Of that, $12.3 billion went to development assistance and humanitarian aid and $9.46 billion to security support.
That same year, the State Department’s $38.8 billion spent was 0.6% of federal spending. State Department spending has exceeded $33 billion every year since 2009.
In FY 2024, 97% of its spending was on foreign affairs. About 19.8 billion was spent on development and humanitarian aid and $1.48 billion on security assistance. The remaining $16.3 billion went to a range of other projects.
Proposed cuts to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting
President Trump’s May 2025 Executive Order called for an end government funding for media outlets that don’t meet standards of fairness, accuracy, and nonpartisanship. The Rescissions Act proposes eliminating all funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) for fiscal years 2026 and 2027 (since Congress approves funding in two-year advance increments), totaling around $1.07 billion.
In practice, that means budget cuts for public radio and television programs. According to CPB’s FY 2023/2025 appropriations request and justification, 66.75% of its federal funding supported TV programming like PBS, 22.25% supported radio programming like NPR, 5.0% was for operations, and the remaining 6.0% covered support activities — local journalism initiatives, professional development, royalty payments, and more.
CPB federal funding appropriations come from the Department of Labor, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Education, and other subcommittees of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees.
The Education Department, for example, provides funding for CPB’s “Ready to learn” programing for preschool and early elementary school students, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency funds public alerts and warnings during emergencies. The rescissions package would eliminate federal agency funding for these programs.
As of FY 2024, federal funding was a primary funding source for public television and radio, supplemented by private donations and other revenue sources.
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Page sources and methodology
All of the data on the page was sourced directly from government agencies. The analysis and final review was performed by USAFacts.