Republicans are considering changes to Trump's request for $9.4 billion in spending cuts
The president is looking to claw back $1.1 billion of funding authority from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and about $8.3 billion from foreign aid programs that aim to fight famine and disease and promote global stability. Congress has until Friday to get a bill to the president's desk for his signature or the spending stands.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said some GOP senators would like to see 'modest changes' to the bill. He'll need nearly every Republican senator on board to get the package approved, but some are questioning the severity of the cuts to public media and to a global health program known as PEPFAR that has saved millions of lives since it was established under then-President George W. Bush.
'We're trying to find out if there's a path forward that gets us 51 (votes) and stays consistent with what the White House proposed in terms of a rescissions package,' Thune told reporters.
Republicans were expected to hear directly from Russ Vought, the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, during their weekly conference luncheon on Tuesday as the White House worked to address their concerns.
The White House campaign to win over potential holdouts was already having some success. Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., tweeted that he would vote to support the measure after working with the administration to 'find Green New Deal money that could be reallocated to continue grants to tribal radio stations without interruption.'
Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, the Republican chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said she still had questions about what the administration was seeking to cut from global health programs.
Other senators are worried that the cuts to public media could decimate many of the 1,500 local radio and television stations around the country that rely on some federal funding to operate. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting distributes more than 70% of its funding to those stations.
Democrats are expected to unanimously oppose the package. They see the president's request as an effort to erode the Senate filibuster. They also warn it's absurd to expect them to work with Republicans on bipartisan spending measures if Republicans turn around a few months later and use their majority to cut the parts they don't like.
'It shreds the appropriations process,' said Sen. Angus King, an independent from Maine who caucuses with Democrats. 'The Appropriations Committee, and indeed this body becomes a rubber stamp for whatever the administration wants.'
If senators vote to take up the bill, it sets up the potential for 10 hours of debate plus votes on scores of potentially thorny amendments in what is known as a vote-a-rama. The House has already shown its support for the president's request with a mostly party line 214-212 vote, but if the Senate amends the bill, it will have to go back to the House for another vote.
'We're encouraging our Senate partners over there to get the job done and to pass it as it is,' House Speaker Mike Johnson said Tuesday. 'That's what we did.'
Republicans who vote against the measure also face the prospect of incurring Trump's wrath. He has issued a warning on his social media site directly aimed at individual Senate Republicans who may be considering voting against the rescissions package. He said it was important that all Republicans adhere to the bill and in particular defund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
'Any Republican that votes to allow this monstrosity to continue broadcasting will not have my support or Endorsement,' he said.
____
Congressional correspondent Lisa Mascaro and staff writer Stephen Groves contributed to this report.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Winnipeg Free Press
20 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
UN council authorizes continuing vigilance of attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels on Red Sea shipping
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council on Tuesday authorized continued reporting on attacks on ships in the Red Sea by Yemen's Houthi rebels, who have defied its previous demands to immediately halt all such attacks. The vote in the 15-member council was 12-0 with Russia, China and Algeria abstaining because of attacks against Yemen in violation of its sovereignty, a clear reference to U.S. airstrikes against the Houthis who control most of northern Yemen. The Trump administration has carried out the strikes because of the group's attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, a crucial global trade route, and on close ally Israel. The resolution, cosponsored by the United States and Greece, extends the requirement that U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres provide monthly reports to the Security Council about Houthi attacks in the Red Sea until Jan. 15, 2026. Acting U.S. Ambassador Dorothy Shea said the resolution recognizes the need for continued vigilance 'against the Iran-backed Houthi terrorist threat.' She cited the two latest attacks by Houthis against civilian cargo vessels, the MV Magic Seas and the MV Eternity C, which caused both vessels to sink and led to the loss of innocent seafarers and saw crew members taken hostage. 'The United States strongly condemns these unprovoked terrorist attacks, which demonstrate the threat that the Houthis pose to freedom of navigation and to regional economic and maritime security,' Shea said, reiterating the council's demand for an immediate halt to Houthi attacks and the release of all crew members kidnapped from the Eternity C. The assaults represent the latest chapter of the rebels' campaign against shipping over the war in Gaza that began with Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 surprise attack in southern Israel. They also come as Yemen's nearly decadelong war drags on in the Arab world's poorest country, without any sign of stopping. Greece's U.N. Ambassador Evangelos Sekeris said the Houthi attacks have continued to fuel mistrust in the international maritime community, stressing that security and freedom of navigation are essential for the stability of global supply chains and economic development. 'If the Red Sea region — a critical international maritime route — becomes even more degraded, it will expose the international community to more acute security risks and economic uncertainty,' he warned. Russia's deputy U.N. ambassador Dmitry Polyansky said Moscow abstained because language in the previous resolution demanding a halt to Houthi attacks was arbitrarily interpreted to justify 'the use of force affecting the territory of the sovereign state of Yemen.' 'We stand convinced that any steps aimed at stabilizing the situation in Yemen and around Yemen should be taken in political and diplomatic ways,' he said. China's deputy U.N. ambassador Geng Shuang said his country abstained because 'certain countries took military action against Yemen, which seriously impacted the Yemeni peace process and exacerbated tensions in the Red Sea.' The Houthis have been launching missile and drone attacks against commercial and military ships in the region in what the group's leadership has described as an effort to end Israel's offensive against Hamas in Gaza. Shuang called tensions in the Red Sea 'a major manifestation of the spillover from the Gaza conflict.' Russia's Polyansky also stressed the link between normalizing the situation in the Red Sea and the need for a ceasefire in Gaza and release of all hostages. Algeria's deputy U.N. ambassador Toufik Koudri, whose country is the Arab representative on the Security Council, expressed regret the Yemen resolution demanding an immediate halt to Houthi attacks made no mention of the Gaza war, which he called 'one of the catalytic factors.' 'The Security Council cannot disregard the clear nexus between the attacks in the Red Sea and the aggression against the Palestinian people in Gaza and the deep feelings that resulted from the brutal massacres committed against innocent civilians,' he said.
Toronto Star
23 minutes ago
- Toronto Star
France, UK and Germany would restore UN sanctions on Iran next month without progress on a deal
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Kingdom, France and Germany have agreed to restore tough U.N. sanctions on Iran by the end of August if there has been no concrete progress on a nuclear deal, two European diplomats said Tuesday. The three countries' ambassadors to the United Nations met Tuesday at Germany's U.N. Mission to discuss a possible Iranian deal and reimposing the sanctions. The matter also came up in a phone call Monday between U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the foreign ministers of the three countries, according to two U.S. officials.
Winnipeg Free Press
an hour ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
France, UK and Germany would restore UN sanctions on Iran next month without progress on a deal
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Kingdom, France and Germany have agreed to restore tough U.N. sanctions on Iran by the end of August if there has been no concrete progress on a nuclear deal, two European diplomats said Tuesday. The three countries' ambassadors to the United Nations met Tuesday at Germany's U.N. Mission to discuss a possible Iranian deal and reimposing the sanctions. The matter also came up in a phone call Monday between U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the foreign ministers of the three countries, according to two U.S. officials. The State Department said after the call that the four had spoken about 'ensuring Iran does not develop or obtain a nuclear weapon.' The officials and diplomats spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations. The U.K., France and Germany are part of an agreement reached with Iran in 2015 to rein in its nuclear program, from which President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. during his first term, insisting it wasn't tough enough. Under the accord that lifted economic penalties on Iran in exchange for restrictions and monitoring of its nuclear program, a so-called 'snapback' provision allows one of the Western parties to reimpose U.N. sanctions if Tehran does not comply with its requirements. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told reporters in Brussels Tuesday that the three European countries would be justified in reapplying sanctions. 'Without a firm, tangible, and verifiable commitment from Iran, we will do so by the end of August at the latest,' Barrot said, according to Reuters. One of the diplomats confirmed his comments to The Associated Press. The diplomats did not provide details of the deal being sought. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in recent days that Tehran would accept a resumption of nuclear talks with the U.S. if there were assurances of no more attacks, following Israeli and U.S. strikes on its nuclear facilities. He said there should be 'a firm guarantee that such actions will not be repeated, stressing that 'the attack on Iran's nuclear facilities has made it more difficult and complicated to achieve a solution.' The United States and Iran held several rounds of negotiations over the Iranian nuclear program before the Israeli strikes began in June. Trump and his Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, said last week that talks would happen soon, but nothing has yet been scheduled. Araghchi, whose country insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, said in a July 2 CBS interview that 'the doors of diplomacy will never slam shut.' Iran's U.N. Mission had no comment Tuesday on the threat of renewed sanctions if there is no deal. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said last week that the U.S. airstrikes so badly damaged his country's nuclear facilities that Iranian authorities still have not been able to access them to survey the destruction. Iran has suspended cooperation with the IAEA. ___ AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.
