Congressional Rescission of U.S. Assistance Puts Kids at Risk Around the World

WASHINGTON (July 18, 2025) — Save the Children and Save the Children Action Network (SCAN) today expressed deep disappointment following congressional passage of the administration’s $9 billion rescissions package and alarm over nearly $8 billion in cuts to programs that directly support children and families living in dire circumstances around the world.

Despite prior assurances from the administration that life-saving programs would be exempt from such cuts, this sweeping rollback of U.S. humanitarian and development assistance will have immediate and lasting consequences for the world’s most vulnerable children. The foreign assistance funding that was rescinded had been passed just months ago with bipartisan support through regular congressional order and signed into law by the President, underscoring the gravity of this reversal.

“Foreign assistance is a lifeline for children,” said SCAN Executive Director Christy Gleason. “Rescinding congressionally approved funding for global health, humanitarian and development programs not only puts kids at risk but undermines Congressional funding decisions going forward.”

“This is a deeply troubling step backward of American leadership,” said Allison Dembeck, Head of Policy at Save the Children. “For decades, U.S. foreign assistance has helped millions of children survive, learn and be protected. Cutting critical programs that have proven to reduce child malnutrition, expand education access and deliver vaccines puts lives in jeopardy. Congress must restore its role in the appropriations process and ensure that U.S. support for lifesaving programs remains above politics.”

Save the Children and SCAN applaud lawmakers like Senators Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Chris Coons and Patty Murray as well as Representatives Brian Fitzpatrick and Mike Turner for their steadfast support of U.S. global leadership and rejecting harmful cuts in child-focused foreign assistance. Their bipartisan support sends a clear message that these investments should not fall victim to executive overreach or partisan politics.

The final bill, approved by the House today after narrow passage in the Senate Wednesday night, marks the first rescissions package to pass into law since 1999. While the final version of the bill shields the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) from cuts and protects certain priorities like maternal, newborn and child health, the funding for those programs – with the exception of $400 million for PEPFAR – was still rescinded.

The bill also takes away $1.3 billion in lifesaving humanitarian funding at a time when more than 200 million children need urgent care and support to survive.

“The funding that was taken away could have been used to save the lives of children affected by conflict and disaster through the provision of clean water, safe shelter, urgent care for acute malnutrition and medical care for injuries and disease,” Gleason said. “This funding is the very definition of lifesaving and instead of protecting it, Congress and the Administration have broken their commitment and turned their backs on children around the world.”

These cuts come just as fiscal year 2026 appropriations bills are being marked up and passed. With that process moving under regular order, Save the Children and SCAN call on congressional appropriators to restore and protect investments in international development and humanitarian assistance. Now more than ever, Congress must uphold America’s legacy of compassion, security and partnership and ensure that the funds they have appropriated are used.