The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) made many recommendations for removal of existing and future expenditures of taxpayer funds at the federal level. Some items such a cancellation of unused phone lines and other contracts have already been made. But, some expenses were appropriated by congress and need to be formally rescinded.
The rescission package passed by the House removes $9.4 billion in federal funding for foreign aid and public broadcasting. The funds had been previously approved, but recommended for removal by DOGE. The bill passed the House in a 214-212 vote.
“The Rescissions Bill is a NO BRAINER, and every single Republican in Congress should vote, ‘YES.’ MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN,” Trump said in a Truth Social Post just minutes before the vote.
The rescission bill cuts $1.1 billion taxpayer subsidy of the Corporation of Public Broadcasting which funds PBS and NPR. President Trump has said these stations "spread radical, woke propaganda disguised as 'news’. $8.3 billion for the controversial United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and other foreign aid is also part of the bill.
The bill goes the Senate next where it only needs a simple majority to pass as opposed to the usual 60-vote threshold to get by a filibuster. Republicans could lose three members and have vice-president JD Vance brake the time and still have the bill pass.
“Those Democrats saying that these rescissions will harm people in other countries are missing the point. It’s about people in our country being put first,” said Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Mich., during floor debate. “It is about putting Americans first — what a concept.”
Senate Majority Leader Thune says he expects the bill to be taken up by the Senate in July with the budget reconciliation bill coming up first.
In other DOGE news as they continue their daily effort to ferret out waste, fraud and abuse of your tax dollars, many contracts and service changes have been made. It isn’t sexy, but bit by bit, $million by $million the taxpayers are being served by eliminating wasteful spending.
Contract update
Over the last week, agencies have terminated 90 wasteful contracts with a ceiling value of $1.5B and savings of $200M including a $911k NASA DEI climate contract for “integrating earth observations toward advancing equitable resilience to geo-hazards in a changing climate”, and a $4.6M HHS DEI contract for “essentials in equity” via “innovative modeling and policy analysis interactive tools”.
How $4.6 million in DEI contracts for ‘essentials in equity’ made the agency function better is anyone’s guess.
Unused Software License Update
The US Dept. of Agriculture saved $14M/yr by removing 6,323 unused PowerApps (20,708 to 14,385), 2,549 Team Domestic Calling licenses (8,412 to 5,863), 822 Project Planners (2,116 to 1,294) and 2,335 Visio licenses (4,987 to 2,652).
NASA saved approximately $500k/yr by removing 2,500 unused Office licenses (60,000 to 57,500).