Congress approves $8.6B cut to foreign aid, refugee assistance, public broadcasting
H.R. 4 — Rescissions Act of 2025 · Filed by Steve Scalise (R-LA) · 5 cosponsors · Introduced Jun 6, 2025 · Signed
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What it does
This bill cancels approximately $8.6 billion in unspent federal money that was previously appropriated for foreign aid, international organizations, peacekeeping, refugee assistance, and public broadcasting. The President requested these cancellations in June 2025, and Congress is approving them immediately. The bill protects certain programs (HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, nutrition, maternal health, aid to Jordan and Egypt, and food aid) from the cuts.
Why we flagged it
The bill's sole function is to cancel previously appropriated foreign aid and international program funding at the President's request. It is a straightforward rescission measure with no hidden mechanisms or riders.
What the text implies
- Rescission of $800M in refugee/migration assistance may reduce U.S. capacity to respond to humanitarian crises or manage migration flows, potentially shifting costs to border enforcement or domestic social services.
- Cutting $1.65B in Economic Support Fund (with carve-outs for Jordan/Egypt) may weaken U.S. influence in Middle East diplomacy and regional stability efforts.
- Elimination of Corporation for Public Broadcasting funding for FY2026–2027 removes federal support for educational and cultural broadcasting, shifting content production to commercial or subscription models.
- Rescission of $2.5B in Development Assistance (with carve-outs for Feed the Future and PRC Countering) may reduce U.S. soft power in developing regions and cede influence to competing powers.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Ordinary Americans lose access to foreign aid programs, international peacekeeping, refugee assistance, and public broadcasting—services that advance U.S. diplomatic interests, humanitarian goals, and cultural access. While foreign aid is often unpopular, the bill provides no offsetting domestic benefit or tax relief; the money is simply removed from circulation. Citizens bear the cost of reduced diplomatic capacity and soft power.
Named in the bill
Department of State, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Corporation for Public Broadcasting, International Organizations, UN Peacekeeping, Inter-American Foundation, U.S. African Development Foundation, U.S. Institute of Peace
Where it stands
5 cosponsors: 5 Republicans.
- Jun 6, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jun 6, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Appropriations and Senate Committee on Appropriations · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Appropriations”
- Jun 12, 2025 — Passed the House · Congress.gov: “On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 214 - 212 (Roll no. 168). (text: CR H2796)”
- Jul 15, 2025 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Senate Committee on Appropriations; the Budget discharged by Yea-Nay Vote. 51 - 50.”
- Jul 17, 2025 — Passed both chambers · Congress.gov: “Passed Senate with an amendment by Yea-Nay Vote. 51 - 48. Record Vote Number: 411”
- Jul 18, 2025 — Sent to president · Congress.gov: “Presented to President”
- Jul 24, 2025 — Signed into law · Congress.gov: “Became Public Law No: 119-28”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
18 lobbying clients named this bill on 24 disclosure filings across 3 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $11,263,956 in lobbying spend. A filing names 17 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 96% of bills with at least one filing.
Steve Scalise, the sponsor, reported $1,708,596 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America — $7,360,000 on 1 filing
- Gsk (fka Glaxosmithkline Inc.) — $890,000 on 1 filing
- Apts Action Inc — $660,000 on 2 filings
- Human Rights Campaign — $439,908 on 2 filings
- Grindr LLC — $420,000 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 24, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (7,179 characters) on Jul 10, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 24, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
- H.R. 4 on Congress.gov
- Actions and status history
- Cosponsors (5)
- Bill text the analysis read
- Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America — LDA filing, 2026 Q2
- Gsk (fka Glaxosmithkline Inc.) — LDA filing, 2026 Q2
- Apts Action Inc — LDA filing, 2026 Q1
- Steve Scalise — FEC candidate receipts, 2026 cycle
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