House Republicans are about to vote on “who lives, who dies, and whether the United States still recognizes the difference,” according to an MSNBC column from ex-RNC chairman Michael Steele.
The co-host of "The Weeknight" said, “President Donald Trump is asking [Congress] to approve a rescissions package that would retroactively cancel grants that gave food to the hungry and medicine to the sick, building goodwill for the United States around the world.”
The $9 billion package would put into law some of the cuts made by the Department of Government Efficiency.
If it is approved, Steele believes it means Congress is acting in concert with DOGE “to take back money Congress had already appropriated to programs to feed and care for children around the globe."
Citing an analysis from Boston University, Steele said the cuts already made by the Trump administration have caused “the deaths of approximately 200,000 children and 96,000 adults — a death toll that claims another 103 lives every hour.”
“These deaths were all preventable.” Steele said, “Indeed, Congress already tried to prevent them when it passed decades worth of spending bills that included funding for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).”
He later added, “In short, it would be cruelty codified into law.”
“If congressional Republicans approve the rescissions package, they will have enshrined into law the slashing of $9.4 billion in already-approved federal spending targeted by DOGE,” Steele said. “More than $8 billion of that comes from the State Department and USAID.”
Democrats are expected to oppose the package. Like the recent spending bill vote, the GOP has a slim margin and can only afford to lose three votes.
But, Steele said, “Republicans are keeping mum [about the package and legislation] — or speaking about it anonymously. Is that the courage their constituents voted for?”
“Every member of Congress who votes for this package is voting to turn temporary cruelty into permanent consequence,” the Weeknight co-host said. “These are not just budget lines, but human lives. The toll this "deal-making" president has already inflicted is unthinkable. Let’s not cement it into our nation’s legacy.”