The Senate plans to ignore President Trump’s request to slash $400 million from a global AIDS prevention program as it takes up a broader package of spending cuts that he asked for this week.
Senate Republicans said they will amend the House-passed rescissions package of $9.4 billion in foreign aid and public broadcasting cuts to restore $400 million for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR.
The substitute amendment, if it passes, will reduce the rescissions package to $9 billion.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said those cuts still represent “a significant down payment on getting rid of waste, fraud, abuse in our government.”
“There was a lot of interest among our members in doing something on the PEPFAR issue, and so that’s reflected in the substitute,” the South Dakota Republican said. “And we hope that if we can get this across the finish line in the Senate,