Senate Republicans scramble to lock down support for Trump's spending clawbacks
For weeks, Republicans on both sides of the Capitol have asked the White House for those specifics, and many say they have not yet gotten satisfactory responses.
'We've been working with a number of our colleagues over the weekend trying to address concerns they have and again see what a path forward on amendments looks like,' Thune said Monday evening as he left the Capitol.
Asked if he thought he had the votes to start the process on the floor, he added: 'To be determined. We're still having those conversations.'
Republicans believe Collins will vote to push the rescissions package out of committee, the first step in the floor process. But they are less certain, based on where talks currently stand, whether she would agree to start debate. Asked about that second step on Monday, Collins noted Vought is coming back to the Capitol on Tuesday so 'this will be a chance to try to pin him down and get the detailed information that we need.'
Other Republicans in the meeting with Collins on Monday night are expected to support the administration's effort to claw back the funding but have left the door open to supporting amendments or backing their GOP colleagues' requests for more information.
'I just think it's curious,' Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) told reporters Monday night about the lack of specificity from the White House.
'I've already said I'm a lean yes,' Tillis added. 'But I think there's some very important process questions that people are asking that could make me rethink that, particularly just answering the questions of the members.'
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), who is hosting the lunch with Vought, said 'hopefully we can get a lot of questions answered' there.
When asked if she'll be offering any amendments or needs to see specific changes, she added: 'No, but I'm listening.'
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