Lisa Desjardins:
Right, it matters for two reasons.
One, this is a first and key test of the Trump and DOGE Elon Musk philosophy for cuts. Does Congress actually agree with the specifics here? Second, a lot is on the line here for foreign aid, billions of dollars that would affect communities overseas, and also two years of funding for public broadcasting.
We did learn some things today from Vought. We learned more about exactly what he thinks the administration is doing here. And he said the cuts that they’re doing are broad on purpose because they don’t trust the NGOs, the sort of nonprofits, that have been administering them. He said they’re too liberal, and he says the point is that they need to be cut off.
Russell Vought, Director, Office of Management and Budget: We don’t want to re-up the same spending to the same NGO with a different grant title. That’s not success here. And so it will take some time for us to be able to find the types of groups that can dispense these funds in ways that are consistent with this administration’s priorities.
