There will always be three who give us heartburn. Shockingly, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), who has become the new John McCain of the Senate regarding being a thorn in the side, opted not to break ranks on the recissions package, which codifies some $9 billion in cuts. The gutting of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and National Public Radio is included in this package, which barely advanced on a key vote to move the bill forward. Vice President JD Vance had to go up to the hill to break the 50-50 tie. Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Susan Collins (R-ME), and Mitch McConnell (R-KY) voted against advancing the bill (via WaPo):
NOW VOTING: Motion to discharge from Appropriations Committee H.R.4, Rescissions Act of 2025.
— Senate Cloakroom (@SenateCloakroom) July 16, 2025
🚨BREAKING NEWS: JD Vance has cast the tie-breaking vote to advance the rescissions package in the Senate!
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) July 16, 2025
Republican Senators McConnell, Murkowski, and Collins voted NO.
NPR & PBS are one step closer to being DEFUNDED. pic.twitter.com/hUt91onaf8
Vance coming to CapHill to break 50/50 vote to discharge rescissions bill from cmte.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) July 16, 2025
Vance breaks tie to discharge rescissions bill from cmte and send it to the floor. Senate now voting on actual motion to begin debate on the bill
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) July 16, 2025
Senate Republicans are racing to vote this week on whether to claw back $9 billion in foreign aid and funding for public broadcasting ahead of a crucial Friday deadline.
The rescissions bill is a top priority for the Trump administration, which plans to use the same process to seek deeper cuts in the future if it passes. But some Senate Republicans have balked at the cuts, forcing Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-South Dakota) to reverse course on some of them Tuesday in an attempt to secure enough votes to pass the bill.
Senate Republicans said they would remove $400 million in cuts to the HIV/AIDS relief program known as PEPFAR from the $9.4 billion package. Russell Vought, the White House budget director, said Republicans had the votes to pass the bill after lunching Tuesday with Republican senators.
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This was another hellacious process because that's how things are done in the Senate:
Team Trump is seeing what they can gain one-by-one.
— Lisa Desjardins (@LisaDNews) July 15, 2025
- Sen. Rounds told reporters he is NOW A YES bc the WH promised to find nearly $10 million for 28 Native American radio stations in 9 states.
- Lots of senators to watch: Collins, McCnnll, Sllivan, Yng, Tillis, Risch, Fischer.
The rescission amendment process here is KEY.
— Lisa Desjardins (@LisaDNews) July 15, 2025
- GOP Senators have different concerns that don't overlap perfectly here.
- But there is a sizable group trying to agree on one amendment to rule them all.
- They aren't there yet.
There has been vague talk of trying to cut NPR but not PBS.
— Lisa Desjardins (@LisaDNews) July 15, 2025
1. Not sure the votes are there for that (maybe/maybe not)
2. No one has made a clear case to me for how that could be done. The rescission and Congressional funding is for the Corp. for Public Broadcasting.
BREAKING - PROTECTED NOW: Multiple sources say funding for Malaria, TB, nutrition and maternal health is being protected from the remaining global health cuts in the rescissions pkg.
— Lisa Desjardins (@LisaDNews) July 15, 2025
I am awaiting more detail.
(Was a separate cut from the PEPFAR pot of money that was restored.)
In other words…
— Lisa Desjardins (@LisaDNews) July 15, 2025
BREAKING: Senate Republicans, WH are erasing $400 million in proposed global health cuts that was expected to include PEPFAR.
— Lisa Desjardins (@LisaDNews) July 15, 2025
That change is in there key, substitute amendment.
NO change in that to cuts to public broadcasting.
Senators can try to amend that separately.
Murkowski is not pleased with the cuts to PBS and NPR and doesn’t want to be a team player in getting the core tenets of the Trump agenda through.
Murkowski on her opposition to rescission package: It you don't like what's going on within NPR and PR, you think that there's too much bias there. We can address that, we can address that...you don't need to gut the entire Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the entity, the…
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) July 16, 2025
Murkowski: "I don't want us to go from one reconciliation bill to a recissions package to another recissions package to a reconciliation package to a continuing resolution ... I don't accept that. I'm going to be voting no"
— Burgess Everett (@burgessev) July 16, 2025
UPDATE: Second hurdle cleared, Senate begins debate on the package.
Senate breaks second hurdle to formally begin debate on rescissions bill, 51-50. Vance breaks tie. Collins, Murkowski and McConnell again vote no
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) July 16, 2025
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