{"id":11097,"date":"2025-07-09T12:02:52","date_gmt":"2025-07-09T12:02:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/capitol-agenda-senators-take-aim-at-trumps-rescissions\/"},"modified":"2025-07-09T12:02:52","modified_gmt":"2025-07-09T12:02:52","slug":"capitol-agenda-senators-take-aim-at-trumps-rescissions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/capitol-agenda-senators-take-aim-at-trumps-rescissions\/","title":{"rendered":"Capitol agenda: Senators take aim at Trump\u2019s rescissions"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Senate GOP leaders are scrambling to shore up the votes for the White House\u2019s $9.4 billion request to claw back funding for foreign aid and public broadcasting.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s dangerously close to the July 18 deadline that will render Trump\u2019s rescissions package expired for good if Congress doesn\u2019t act. But Senate Republicans are seeking tweaks<\/a> to minimize the bill\u2019s cuts to AIDS prevention efforts around the world and valued local broadcasters back home.<\/p>\n

Senate Majority Leader John Thune can lose no more than three GOP senators if he wants to get the White House request across the finish line. According to him, it\u2019s still TBD what the bill will look like when and if it gets through the chamber.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll see where it goes,\u201d Thune told reporters Tuesday, adding that he doesn\u2019t have a hard vote count yet. Thune is assuming Republicans will at least be able to gather the necessary 51 votes to begin debate on the package while leaders continue to whip support.<\/p>\n

Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (Maine) is among the Republicans seeking to amend the package, but she refused to elaborate on how much of the $9.4 billion she is aiming to protect: \u201cI have already made clear I don\u2019t support the cuts to PEPFAR and child and maternal health,\u201d Collins said Tuesday night.<\/p>\n

Sens. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) on Tuesday both said they want amendments to protect public radio stations for Native American reservations and rural Alaskans, respectively.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhatever form it takes, we can\u2019t lose these small-town radio stations across the country that are literally the only way to get out an emergency message,\u201d Rounds told reporters.<\/p>\n

Complicating efforts to change the package: Any amendment would have to be narrowly tailored to comply with germaneness rules. The parliamentarian is involved, guiding senators on what tweaks will be allowed.<\/p>\n

Should the parliamentarian allow changes, Collins & Co. might find support from other Republicans. Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas said he\u2019s keeping his options open until he sees what the chamber\u2019s rulekeeper will allow. Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina said he currently \u201clean[s] yes\u201d on the package but said some Republicans have made persuasive arguments in favor of protecting PEPFAR.<\/p>\n

Other Republicans can\u2019t understand their colleagues\u2019 objections.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter all the tough talk by Republicans in the Senate about the need to reduce spending, if we can\u2019t agree to reduce $9 billion worth of spending porn, then we all ought to go buy paper bags and put them over our heads,\u201d Sen. John Kennedy (La.) told reporters Tuesday.<\/p>\n

What else we\u2019re watching:<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Russia sanctions pending: <\/b>Expect developments later this week from Thune on when the chamber could take up a bipartisan bill to impose new sanctions on Russia. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told reporters the president is on board with a punishing new package as Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to resist peace talks in Ukraine.<\/p>\n

Biden doc to testify: <\/b>Kevin O\u2019Connor, who served as former President Joe Biden\u2019s physician, is testifying before the House Oversight Committee Wednesday as part of its probe into Biden\u2019s mental acuity while in office. The Trump White House waived executive privilege<\/a> for O\u2019Connor ahead of his interview, meaning he won\u2019t be able to invoke that reason to avoid answering questions.<\/p>\n

New megabill talks heat up: <\/b>Senate Finance Chair Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) joined House GOP leaders in saying that he wants a second reconciliation bill this fall<\/a>. He believes policies were left on the table from the first package, although declined to disclose specifics. House Budget Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) said he believes GOP leaders should try to revive provisions cut from the first megabill<\/a> due to the Byrd rule.<\/p>\n

Jordain Carney, Jennifer Scholtes and Hailey Fuchs contributed to this report.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Senate GOP leaders are scrambling to shore up the votes for the White House\u2019s $9.4 billion request to claw back funding for foreign aid and public broadcasting. It\u2019s dangerously close to the July 18 deadline that will render Trump\u2019s rescissions package expired for good if Congress doesn\u2019t act. But Senate Republicans are seeking tweaks to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11097","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-congress"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11097","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11097"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11097\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}