Senate GOP gears up for test on Trump's DOGE cuts

Yahoo

2 days ago

Senate Republicans are staring down a mid-July deadline to approve a batch of funding cuts pursued by President Trump's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), even as some in the GOP express misgivings about the request.The GOP-led Congress has until July 18 to approve more than $9 billion in cuts to foreign aid and public broadcasting funds outlined in a special rescissions request sent by the White House last month.
The House approved the request last month, but it's largely been on the back-burner since as Republicans worked to pass Trump's 'big, beautiful bill.' Now, the Senate is set to take it up.
Under the special rescissions process initiated by the White House, Republicans can approve Trump's proposal to yank back previously allocated funds with a simple majority in the Senate — allowing them to bypass Democratic support.
The White House is seeking $8.3 billion in cuts to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and foreign aid, and more than $1 billion in cuts to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which helps fund NPR and PBS.
Republicans supportive of the plan see the cuts as long overdue. Many in the party have long scrutinized the scope of funding for foreign aid and accused public radio and television of political bias.
In his testimony before the Senate Appropriations Committee last month, White House budget chief Russell Vought touted the proposed cuts as the administration's 'steadfast commitment to cutting wasteful federal spending antithetical to American interests,' while pointing to funding for items like 'LGBTQ advocacy in Uganda,' 'transgender people, sex workers and their clients in Nepal' and 'LGBTQ activism.'
But in the same hearing, Vought faced pushback from Republicans as well as Democrats about the cuts.
Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) has repeatedly sounded the alarm about the administration's proposed cuts targeting the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), and pressed Vought on the topic.
'These are not only the right thing to do for humanitarian reasons, but they're incredible instruments of soft power,' she said, before asking Vought if the administration looks to cut the 'lifesaving multivitamins for pregnant mothers and the food supplement that's used for malnourished children.'
Vought told lawmakers in his previous testimony that there'd be about $10 billion left for PEPFAR if the rescissions package were to pass but he has also questioned the scope of preventative care, while pointing to funds for items recruiting 'gender and inclusive development experts' and the International Planned Parenthood Federation.
Some Republicans have also expressed concerns about how the proposed cuts to CPB would impact local stations and rural radio.
'A lot of your very small rural radio stations that serve a lot of our Native American reservations and so forth, about 90% of their funding comes through the federal government,' Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) told reporters on Tuesday.
'It's got to be resolved, because this is where in these rural areas they get through emergency services, they get their announcements,' he said. 'They're not political in nature, but it's the only way of really communicating in some very rural areas in our state and a lot of other states as well.'
It's been decades since Congress has approved a request to yank back funds previously approved by lawmakers. Trump tried to use the same process to rescind funds in his first term but was unsuccessful, despite Republicans controlling the House, Senate and White House at the time.
Trump officials have signaled more rescissions requests could be on the way if congressional Republicans are able to push through the rescissions package before them.
A committee meeting to advance the bill to the Senate floor has not yet been scheduled and Senate leaders have not indicated when a floor vote will take place this month. Collins indicated last month that she expected the bill to go to the Senate floor without changes, but that she would like to see it revised.
At the same time, Democrats are already warning that clawing back the funding will 'poison' negotiations for fiscal 2026 government funding.
In a letter to Democrats on Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) argued that passage of what he described as a 'purely partisan proposal would be an affront to the bipartisan appropriations process.'
'That's why a number of Senate Republicans know it is absurd for them to expect Democrats to act as business as usual and engage in a bipartisan appropriations process to fund the government, while they concurrently plot to pass a purely partisan rescissions bill to defund those same programs negotiated on a bipartisan basis behind the scenes,' he wrote.
His comments set the stage for what could be another nasty fight over government funding awaiting Congress in the months ahead when it comes time for both sides to hash out a deal to prevent a shutdown in October, the start of fiscal year 2026.
Al Weaver contributed.
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