Fellow Conservative,

Time is running out for the Senate to pass President Trump’s rescissions request with the July 18th deadline quickly approaching. Unfortunately, some Senators are playing political games and, as a result, the Senate is on a collision course with the White House.

Meanwhile, the House is expected to take up Heritage-backed legislation to safeguard Americans and our privacy from a weaponized government. Then at the state level, there is some big news coming out of Missouri–which just became the ninth state this year to ban foreign funding in their elections.

Power of the Purse

President Trump’s rescissions proposal would reclaim $9.4 billion in wasteful spending, including $8.3 billion from the State Department and USAID, and $1.1 billion from NPR and PBS.

While cutting $9.4 billion alone won’t solve America’s fiscal crisis, it’s a crucial first step — and hopefully the first of many rescissions packages. The rescissions package became privileged for discharge from the Senate Appropriations Committee last week, which allows any senator to force a vote even without a formal committee markup. A vote is expected this week, but it is unclear if the bill has the necessary votes to pass. If Congress fails to act by July 18th, the final day of the 45-day timeline outlined in the Impoundment Control Act, the executive branch will be forced to spend the wasteful funds as originally appropriated.

Senators in opposition, or reluctant to vote for the bill have raised (misguided) objections on two points in particular:

Cuts to Foreign Aid

One point of concern from Senators Susan Collins, Mitch McConnell, and others is the proposed cuts to PEPFAR, a program to combat global HIV/AIDS. However, the package does not cut core treatment funding. Instead, it targets the Biden administration’s radical expansions of PEPFAR, which shifted a well-intentioned, bipartisan program towards promoting radical Left-wing priorities like abortion and gender ideology. Let’s be clear: by opposing these cuts, senators are forcing the Trump Administration to fund abortion and gender indoctrination.

>>> Read more: Heritage explains the cuts to wasteful spending in PEPFAR

Cuts to National Public Radio (NPR)

Another point of contention is the reduction in funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, with concerns being voiced by Senators Murkowski and Rounds, who claim that it could impact rural emergency alerts. However, Heritage experts have noted that agencies like NOAA already handle emergency communications, and NPR — a leftist propaganda outlet — is not essential for delivering these services.

>>> Read more: NPR does not have a monopoly on emergency alerts

What’s really going on?:

Unfortunately, these senators appear to be trying to run out the clock on the rescissions package to build leverage to pass an amended version of the bill. This cynical tactic is one that we’ve seen time and time again from the swamp.

That’s why we need you to make your voice heard. It’s imperative that the Senate quickly pass the package — without gutting important reforms.

>>> Take Action: Call your senators and urge them to support President Trump’s rescissions package

Protecting Your Privacy

Next week, the House will take up the H.R. 1919, the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act introduced by House Majority Whip Tom Emmer— critical legislation to safeguard your financial privacy and individual rights from 21st-century techno-tyranny. Specifically, the bill prohibits a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) from being issued either directly or indirectly by the federal government. Heritage Action key voted this legislation last Congress as it passed the House, however, it never received a vote under the Democrat-controlled Senate.

While proponents may claim it simply brings our financial system up to date technologically, in reality a CBDC would be programmable, traceable, and trackable by the government, and allow for unprecedented control over your financial information and transactions. As financial censorship like “debanking” becomes more common, the last thing we need is a government that can spy on every purchase we make.

Under the Biden administration, countless Americans were punished for thinking, speaking, and voting the ‘wrong’ way — a CBDC would take this up a level. Communist China has used its CBDC as a critical component of its state-wide social credit score system. Here’s what that might look like in practice:

Securing our Elections

Heritage Action remains committed to ensuring the voices of American citizens are heard, not those of foreign billionaires and bureaucrats. However, for years our elections laws have been exploited by the radical left to funnel billions of foreign dollars towards advancing Democrat priorities. In just one example, leftist Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss contributed at least $243 million to the Sixteen Thirty Fund in an effort to sway our elections. But now, states are taking action.

The Missouri legislature is the most recent state to recognize this loophole and passed SB 152 to secure their elections. We are happy to report that this bill was just signed into law by Governor Kehoe. Missouri elections belong to Missourians, and this bill is a pivotal safeguard to protect state elections from outside interference.

In signing SB 152, Missouri is joining eight other states who have banned foreign funding from state elections this year. Heritage Action will continue to support electoral transparency at both the state and national level, but in the meantime, please stay tuned for ways to engage!

- The Heritage Action team

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