A debate over a $9.4 billion GOP-backed rescissions package turned theatrical Thursday on the House floor as Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., held up a stuffed Elmo doll to protest proposed cuts targeting cultural programming, including the international version of Sesame Street.
Jeffries accused Republicans of waging a campaign against children’s shows and public broadcasting under the guise of fiscal reform.
“Today, we are... debating legislation that targets Elmo. And Big Bird. And Daniel Tiger and Sesame Street,” Jeffries said, using the red puppet to dramatize opposition to the bill. The visual quickly went viral, fueling partisan commentary across media platforms.
At the center of the clash is a Trump-endorsed rescissions package aimed at rolling back unused or low-priority federal funds. Among the programs flagged for elimination is $3 million in funding for Sesame Street programming in Iraq. Other cuts include grants for foreign health services—such as $3 million for vasectomies, circumcisions, and contraceptives in Zambia—and gender-related surgeries in Nepal.
Democrats decried the move as cultural vandalism. “While you all have killed off Elmo, I urge my colleagues to vote no on this trash,” Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, D-Calif., stated. Their argument: these cuts disproportionately affect humanitarian and educational initiatives under the pretense of cost-saving.
Republicans dismissed the performance. “I never realized Elmo was more important to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle than the American people,” Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Mich., countered.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., defended the proposal as pragmatic. “Sesame Street is not going away. It’s doing just fine. Very lucrative,” Scalise said, referencing the show’s commercial partnerships, including a recent Netflix campaign featuring Cookie Monster. “They can still watch Sesame Street in Iraq. But let the Iraqi people pay for it — not the taxpayers of the United States.”
Scalise emphasized the broader aim of the bill: reducing taxpayer support for entities like PBS and NPR, which many fiscal conservatives view as partisan and outdated. “Why should your tax dollars go to only one thing that the other side wants to promote?” he asked.
The bill narrowly passed the House 214–212, with all Democrats voting no and four Republicans breaking ranks: Reps. Mark Amodei (R-NV), Mike Turner (R-OH), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), and Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY).