- President Joe Biden has told Congress he will recall one last minute from President Donald Trump to cut nearly $ 30 billion in funding to various federal agencies.
- “I withdraw 73 proposed repeals that were previously forwarded to Congress,” the president wrote in a letter to Congress.
- Trump wrote a letter on January 14, a week before he left office, informing Congress that he intended to block $ 27.4 billion in federal funding.
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President Joe Biden has told Congress he will recall one last minute from President Donald Trump to cut nearly $ 30 billion in funding to various federal agencies.
President Biden announced the reversal on Sunday in a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Kamala Harris, Senate President.
“I withdraw 73 proposed repeals previously submitted to Congress,” the president wrote.
On January 14, shortly before he left office, President Trump wrote a letter informing Congress that he intended to block $ 27.4 billion in federal funding.
This is in response to what Trump called ‘wasteful spending’ contained in the $ 900 billion bill for coronavirus – the legislation that includes a $ 600 salary for every adult citizen as well as a number of other measures.
Trump has said he will support the bill on the condition that he add “many repeals” to it.
“I will sign the Omnibus and Covid package with a strong message that makes it clear to Congress that wasteful items need to be removed,” Trump said in a Dec. 28 statement.
“I will be sending a new version to Congress, item by item, accompanied by the formal withdrawal request to Congress demanding that the money be removed from the bill.”
Top Democrats immediately rejected Trump’s proposed resignations, affecting a total of 28 government agencies, including the Treasury and the Department of Agriculture, Commerce and Education, in part on the grounds that Trump has less than a month in office.
Biden’s effort to repeal Trump’s proposed budget cut is part of his wider effort to undo many aspects of the former president’s legacy during his first term.
Biden withdrew a few hours after taking office to strike the wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, lifting Trump’s travel ban on incoming Muslim-majority countries.
The president also signaled an end to the Trump era by rejoining the Paris climate agreement, halting the US withdrawal from the World Health Organization and ordering the wearing of masks in federal buildings.