By Jasmine Li

WASHINGTON -- Elon Musk is gone, and the next act of streamlining government is now set to play out on Capitol Hill.

The White House is sending Congress a $9.4 billion rescissions package Tuesday that would codify some spending cuts made by the Trump administration, effectively having lawmakers reverse spending they previously voted into law. The White House also is weighing the use of a separate, controversial process called impoundment to claw back funds, sidestepping the legislative branch and setting up a likely legal battle.

The rescissions package, which includes $8.3 billion in cuts to foreign aid and $1.1 billion to public media, can pass the House and Senate with a simple majority. Republicans control both chambers of Congress, but it isn't clear what sort of rescissions could be approved, and the administration is expected to propose more packages of cuts if this one proceeds.

Republican leaders have said they wanted to move quickly on the package, just as they are also working to advance President Trump's "one, big beautiful" bill that cuts taxes while also trimming spending on Medicaid and food aid. That bill passed the House last month, and the Senate is now taking it up.

The launching of the rescissions package is intended to underline GOP leaders' dedication to cost cutting, amid criticism from some Republican fiscal hawks that the tax and spending bill doesn't sufficiently reduce spending

Republicans have promoted rescissions as a method to codify cuts identified by Musk's Department of Government Efficiency. Musk, the billionaire CEO of electric-vehicle maker Tesla and space company SpaceX, left the administration last week after a whirlwind four months that upended the federal government and made cuts at agencies including the Social Security Administration, Education Department and Human and Health Services Department. The package includes cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development, the foreign-assistance agency DOGE gutted within two weeks.

In lawsuits filed last week, National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service said Trump's executive order to pull funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which distributes funds to stations, was unconstitutional and violated federal law. The PBS suit said the order stemmed from "a desire to alter the content of speech," which it described as "blatant viewpoint discrimination."

The overall rescissions package falls short of the $175 billion DOGE claims to have saved through a combination of asset sales, contract cancellations, job cuts and other moves -- a figure challenged by budget observers across the political spectrum.

Aside from the public broadcasting rescissions, the package being sent to Congress on Tuesday includes cuts for a variety of foreign-aid programs. Items being cut include $614,700 for climate adaptation, including to grow coral reefs in the Caribbean; and $500,000 for electric buses in Rwanda, according to a spokeswoman for the White House Office of Management and Budget.

For Democrats, who have rallied against Musk, the package is a referendum on the billionaire's stint in government.

"If Republicans choose to go along with this rescission package, they will follow Trump at their peril," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) and Sen. Patty Murray (D., Wash.) said in a joint statement Monday. "The power of the purse is one of Congress's most fundamental Constitutional responsibilities. Democrats will not allow Republicans to play games with the budget."

OMB Director Russ Vought said Sunday the administration was considering impoundment to fast-track spending cuts. The move would involve Trump refusing to spend money appropriated by Congress. A 1974 law long contested by Vought allows Congress to review or overturn impoundments within 45 days.

"We're certainly not taking impoundment off the table," Vought said on CNN's "State of the Union." "We're not in love with the law."

Vought has also suggested "pocket rescissions" -- or proposing rescissions within 45 days of the end of the fiscal year, which would cause the funds to lapse even if Congress doesn't act. "It's a provision that has been rarely used, but it's there," he said. "And we intend to use all of these tools. We want Congress to pass it where it's necessary, we also have executive tools."

A challenge to the Impoundment Control Act, which was passed after President Richard Nixon withheld funding from programs he opposed, sets the stage for a battle between Congress and the White House over the power of the purse that could end up at the Supreme Court.

House Republicans, including Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.), were quick to call for rescissions after Musk said last week he was disappointed that the GOP's tax-and-spending megabill increases the budget deficit.

"Personally I want to pass DOGE cuts every single week until the bloated out of control government" is reined back in, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R., Ga.) said on X.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R., S.D.) said he would begin reviewing the White House's rescissions request this month. "We will be taking up this package and eliminating this waste," he said Monday. "We'll make that a priority."

Write to Jasmine Li at jasmine.li@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 03, 2025 13:21 ET (17:21 GMT)

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