The Senate worked overnight into the early hours of Thursday morning as it weighed whether to claw back $9 billion in federal funds already congressionally approved for foreign aid and public broadcasting programs as a deadline to act on the White House priority looms.
A “vote-a-rama” on the administration’s request – known as a “rescission package” on Capitol Hill – began Wednesday afternoon after senators narrowly cleared two procedural hurdles late Tuesday to move closer to a final vote. If passed, the GOP effort would effectively codify a small portion of the Department of Government Efficiency’s spending cuts.
The Senate and House must pass the legislation by Friday, under an obscure presidential budget law used to circumvent the filibuster, or be forced to start over at a later date. It was not immediately clear when a final vote would take place, but it appeared poised Wednesday afternoon to pass with a potential tie-breaking vote from the vice president.
The effort appeared to get a boost Tuesday when Senate Republicans signaled resolution on sticking points related to a key global health initiative and rural radio access. Despite that progress, three GOP senators joined Democrats in voting against the measure later that night, forcing party leadership to once again summon Vice President JD Vance to the Capitol to help advance it.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who along with top Senate appropriator Susan Collins and former Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell voted against the package Tuesday, defended her vote in the face of a threat from President Donald Trump to withhold support from any Republican who opposes the bill.
The Alaska Republican said she took the legislative power of the purse “personally,” adding, “So I’m going to execute on it. The president can say what he’s going to say, but that’s fine. I’m going to do what I’m going to do.”
Murkowski declined to say how she would vote after the marathon voting session on amendments.
Unlike in other vote-a-ramas, the amendments offered to the rescissions package must be “germane” to the bill, which limits the kinds of amendments lawmakers can offer. Still, the process allows Republicans to make changes to the legislation and provides Democrats an opportunity to force their Republican colleagues to vote on politically difficult issues.
Sticking points
Among the changes Republicans are expected to make to the bill is the removal of a controversial $400 million cut that senators believed would impact the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR.
Gavi, an organization focused on providing vaccinations for children around the world, would also not face cuts in the package, Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters. “We were reassured by the [White House Office of Management and Budget] director that would not be affected in this process,” he said.
On another front, Sen. Mike Rounds announced he would back the measure after working out an agreement that would keep funds flowing to rural radio stations in his state of South Dakota, an issue he’s been working for weeks to resolve.
Rounds said of his negotiations on X: “We wanted to make sure tribal broadcast services in South Dakota continued to operate which provide potentially lifesaving emergency alerts,” and said that he worked with the Trump administration to find “money that could be reallocated to continue grants to tribal radio stations without interruption.”
The OMB director projected confidence about the package, despite the expected changes to it.
“We’re fine with adjustments. This is still a great package,” Russ Vought told reporters after a closed-door meeting with GOP senators Tuesday.
The Senate, he added at the time, “has to work its will and we’ve appreciated the work along the way to get to a place where they think they’ve got the votes.”
White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on Tuesday. – Ken Cedeno/Reuters
Despite the OMB director’s visit to the Senate GOP lunch, Collins and Murkowski, in explaining their votes, argued they had not received specific information from the administration on how the cuts could affect global health programs and public broadcasting.
Murkowski also argued that the rescissions package from the White House sets a harmful precedent undermining Congressional authority.
“We’re lawmakers. We should be legislating. What we’re getting now is a direction from the White House and being told, ‘This is the priority. We want you to execute on it. We’ll be back with you with another round,’” she said ahead of the procedural votes on the package. “I don’t accept that. I’m going to be voting no.”
Thune on Wednesday acknowledged concerns from the three Republican senators over how specific cuts would be carried out, saying they made a “fair point.”
“The administration needs to be more specific. I think that’s a fair point. But this is an area of the law historically where it isn’t as specific. In most cases, when it comes to the State Department, grant a good deal of flexibility about how to allocate some of the resources that Congress appropriates. But I don’t disagree. I think that more specificity would be a good thing,” the Republican leader said.
Thune said despite the lack of details, he and most members of his conference felt like they had enough information to advance the bill that’s expected to pass Wednesday or Thursday.
House test on the horizon
Since senators are planning to make changes to the bill, it is expected to have to return to the House for final passage – marking the second time this month the Senate GOP would be jamming the House on a Trump priority.
House Speaker Mike Johnson earlier in the day encouraged the Senate to send the package back to his chamber “as is” due to the House Republicans’ narrow majority.
The Louisiana Republican said he’s urged the Senate “as I always do, to please keep the product unamended, because we have a narrow margin and we got to pass it.”
“We’re going to process whatever they send us, whenever they send us. I’m hopeful that it will be soon,” Johnson said Tuesday.
This headline and story have been updated with additional developments.
CNN’s Lauren Fox, Alison Main, Manu Raju, Casey Riddle, Veronica Stracqaulursi, Maggie McCabe and Sarah Ferris contributed to this report.
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