Here’s how Iowa’s members of Congress voted on $9B cut to public media, foreign aid

All six members of Iowa’s Congressional delegation voted to claw back $9 billion in previously approved funding for foreign aid programs and public broadcasting this week.

The federal funding cuts are included in a rescissions package pushed by President Donald Trump as part of the Department of Government Efficiency’s aim to reduce government spending. The cuts make up less than 5 percent of DOGE’s estimated $190 billion in federal spending reductions.

The package passed primarily along party lines in a 216-213 House vote late Thursday night. All four of Iowa’s U.S. House representatives voted for the legislation’s approval. Iowa’s two U.S. senators voted to pass the bill earlier that day.

Among the cuts are a $1.1 billion slash to funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and National Public Radio, which Republicans have argued are politically biased in their coverage.

How will the cuts affect Iowa Public Radio and Iowa PBS?

Iowa Public Radio announced Friday that it anticipates it will see an immediate loss of $1 million in annual funding, or 10 percent of its budget. IPR Executive Director Myrna Johnson said the organization has already begun reducing its spending and will continue to “maintain staffing in the short term and programming,” although it is reducing its head count by not filling open positions, according to an IPR report.

“The federal funding fight may be over, but our mission prevails. Iowa Public Radio is still here for you and for our communities,” Johnson said in a post on IPR’s Instagram account. “We’ll continue to provide you with relevant information and carry the emergency alerts that Iowans rely on in times of crisis.”

Iowa PBS anticipates losing about $3.5 million, or 18 percent of its budget, the largest one-time cut in public money to the program in its 55-year history, according to Iowa PBS Executive Director and General Manager Andrew Batt.

Batt added that federal money contributes to the maintenance of nine broadcast towers that send signals to every rural and urban community in the state, coverage of the Iowa State Fair and high school state championship sports and programming that highlights Iowa tourism and agriculture.

“While specific programs or services to be cut have yet to be determined, all of these things have been supported by federal funding in the past," Batt said in a statement. "One of the main components of public television is that we are structured to be non-commercial in nature, to be a universal public service and to limit the amount of advertising we broadcast."

The rescission package also claws back nearly $8 billion in funds for U.S. Agency for International Development and other foreign aid and global health programs.

Here’s what Iowa’s delegation said about the vote

All six members of Iowa’s entirely-Republican delegation voted for the recissions package. Here’s what they said about their votes.

Sen. Joni Ernst

Earlier this week, U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst criticized federal funding for public broadcasting on the Senate floor, calling NPR and PBS reporting “partisan propaganda.”

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“NPR and PBS have a right to say whatever the heck they want, but they don’t have a right to force hardworking Americans to pay for their political propaganda being masked as a public service," Ernst said. “Defunding this nonsense is causing a lot of squealing from the big spenders around here.”

Ernst added that the cuts are necessary to help reduce the growing federal debt, which sits at nearly $37 trillion.

Earlier this month, Ernst — and the rest of Iowa’s congressional delegation — voted for Trump’s $4.5 trillion tax breaks and spending cuts bill — dubbed the “Big, Beautiful Bill.” The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has estimated that bill will add $3.3 trillion to the nation’s debt over the next decade.

Ernst this week also criticized funding for USAID programs, which she called a “rogue bureaucracy.”

Sen. Chuck Grassley

U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley applauded the passage of the rescissions package in a social media post Thursday afternoon, highlighting the need to reduce the federal deficit. The bill will "put America on a better fiscal path," he wrote, adding that the rescissions package builds on the reconciliation bill signed by Trump earlier this month.

Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks

U.S. Rep. Mariannette-Miller Meeks, who represents Iowa’s 1st Congressional District, and is a member of the U.S. House DOGE Caucus, said Congress passed two “big wins for the American people,” including the rescissions package and defense appropriations.

“I proudly voted YES to defend taxpayers, strengthen our military, and deliver on@POTUS's America First agenda,” Miller-Meeks wrote on social media Friday morning.

Rep. Ashley Hinson

Iowa 2nd Congressional District U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson applauded the rescission package’s passage in a statement Friday morning.

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"President Trump is the first president to actually deliver on real savings for the American people and end the culture of unchecked wasteful spending in Washington,” Hinson said. “He knows you work hard for your money, and I'm proud to fight alongside the president to ensure not a dime of it is being wasted on things like male circumcisions in Mozambique, gender diversity in the Mexican street lighting industry, Sesame Street in Iraq, or Left-wing propaganda at NPR and PBS. I will never stop fighting for a smaller, more efficient, and more accountable government. Let's make D.C. run a lot more like Iowa."

USAID funded male circumcisions in Mozambique and a number of other countries in southern and eastern Africa to reduce the rate of HIV transmission.

Hinson, a former television news anchor, also criticized federal funding for public broadcasting on the House floor in June.

"For decades, public broadcasting has not adhered to objectivity standards enshrined in law,” Hinson said. “It has pushed biased narratives and forced inappropriate content on children."

Rep. Zach Nunn

Iowa 3rd Congressional District U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn did not post about or put out a statement regarding the rescissions package as of Friday afternoon. Nunn has posted about other legislation, including defense spending, since the House’s final vote on the federal spending cuts.

Rep. Randy Feenstra

U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra, who represents Iowa’s 4th Congressional District, did not post anything on the rescissions package as of Friday. However, like Nunn, he has posted about other legislation since then, including the “HALT Fentanyl Act,” which will reclassify fentanyl-based substances as Schedule I drugs.

In May, Feenstra launched an exploratory campaign for Iowa governor after Gov. Kim Reynolds announced she will not seek reelection in 2026.