Senate approves $9 billion in spending clawbacks, handing Trump a major win

The Senate voted 51-48 early Thursday to approve $9 billion in federal spending clawback success, substantially cutting foreign aid and subsidies to National Public Radio and PBS in a win for President Donald Trump's effort to shrink the size of government.

Two Republicans, Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine, joined Democrats in opposing the rescissions package.

It now heads back to the House, which previously approved a slightly larger $9.4 billion cut. The Senate modified the package by restoring $400 million in AIDS funding for Africa in order to get it passed.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune praised the vote, saying it was an important first step in creating a new culture in Congress to reduce more spending after an era of about $2 trillion in annual budget deficits.

"I appreciate all the work the administration has done in identifying wasteful spending," Thune said. "And now it’s time for the Senate to do its part to cut some of that waste out of the budget. It’s a small but important step toward fiscal sanity that we all should be able to agree is long overdue."