The White House defended cuts to foreign aid and public broadcasting being pushed through the U.S. House of Representatives this week, saying that the administration’s $9 billion rescissions package will restore “fiscal sanity” to the U.S.
During a press briefing Thursday, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt reiterated the White House’s position that appropriating federal funds to USAID, NPR and PBS is “ridiculous” and called on the House to send the package rescinding their funding to the president’s desk immediately.
Leavitt was asked about a statement made by Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who voted against her party’s rescissions package, that evacuation alerts from public broadcasting in Alaska saved local residents from a tsunami this week. Leavitt responded to the question by maintaining that NPR has become “a propaganda voice for the left.”
The House is expected to vote on the rescissions package before the end of the week. If Congress does not send it to Trump’s desk by Friday, the White House is required to spend the funds.
After reporters noticed bruised hands and swelling in Trump’s lower legs during public appearances in recent weeks, the White House released a letter from the president’s doctor during the briefing. In the note, Dr. Sean Barbabella reported that Trump has been diagnosed with a “benign and common” vein condition and that his bruised hands are a result of prescribed aspirin use and “frequent handshaking.”
Leavitt was pummeled with questions about the ongoing controversy regarding the Trump administration’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files. Leavitt defended Attorney General Pam Bondi’s management of the case and said that Trump would not be appointing a special prosecutor to investigate the case.
The White House also defended their immigration policy and used new numbers from U.S. Customs and Border Protection to convey the administration’s “complete and total success at our southern border.”
Leavitt said that during June no undocumented immigrants were released along the southwest border for the second month in a row and that 6,000 apprehensions took place.
“To put that in perspective, the Biden administration routinely saw the same number of encounters in a single day,” Leavitt said.
