Rep. French Hill of Arkansas’s 2nd Congressional District cast his vote in favor of H.R. 4, the Rescissions Act of 2025. The bill passed narrowly in the House with a vote count of 216-213 and aims to save taxpayers $9 billion by rescinding unobligated funds from the State Department and altering the budgeting cycle for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Rep. Hill emphasized the importance of controlling federal spending amid a growing national debt, stating, “With our national debt approaching $40 trillion and annual deficits of nearly $2 trillion, it’s critical we rein in unchecked federal spending.” He added that this was a significant issue during the last campaign and that Americans have expressed their desire for Washington to curb wasteful expenditure.
Hill described the cuts as “commonsense” measures that do not affect current operations or national security. He questioned Congress’s seriousness about fiscal responsibility if it cannot cut $9 billion from a nearly $7 trillion federal budget.
The bill proposes to rescind $7.9 billion from foreign aid programs within the State Department and an additional $1.1 billion from future funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which supports National Public Radio (NPR) and PBS. These funds are considered unobligated, meaning they were not allocated to be spent imminently.
“Arkansans understand the value of living within their means, and they expect the same from their government,” Hill remarked. “This is what my fellow central Arkansans sent me here to do: ensure responsible spending that puts taxpayers first.”
