NATIONAL NEWS

Republicans are considering changes to Trump’s request for $9.4 billion in spending cuts

Jul 15, 2025, 9:52 AM | Updated: 7:06 pm

Sen. Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., talks after a policy luncheon on Wednesday, July 9, 2025, ...

Sen. Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., talks after a policy luncheon on Wednesday, July 9, 2025, at the Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS

(AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans were exploring changes Tuesday to President Donald Trump’s request to cancel $9.4 billion in previously approved spending targeted by his Department of Government Efficiency, signaling potential difficulties ahead of an important test vote.

The president is looking to claw back $1.1 billion of funding authority from 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.

National News

fort stewart georgia shooting...

Associated Press

5 soldiers shot before arrest made at Army’s Fort Stewart in Georgia

Five soldiers were shot Wednesday at Fort Stewart in Georgia, leading to a lockdown at the Army base before the shooter was arrested, officials said.

10 hours ago

Titan...

Associated Press

Titan sub disaster was caused by weak safety and oversight, Coast Guard says

The Coast Guard said the Titan sub disaster was caused by weak safety and oversight.

1 day ago

Texas...

Associated Press

Why dozens of Democrats left Texas and how Republicans want to punish them

Dozens of Democratic state lawmakers in Texas have scattered to points across the country.

2 days ago

The U.S. Capitol, Wednesday, July 16, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)Credit...

Associated Press

August recess can’t hide tensions ahead for Congress on spending and Trump nominations

WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawmakers have left Washington for the annual August recess, but a few weeks of relative quiet on the U.S. Capitol grounds can’t mask the partisan tensions that are brewing on government funding and President Donald Trump’s nominees. It could make for a momentous September. Here’s a look at what’s ahead when lawmakers […]

2 days ago

FILE - Damage can be seen to a front window as law enforcement officers work the scene of a shootin...

Associated Press

Arkansas man sentenced to life without parole for 2024 mass shooting at grocery store

FORDYCE, Ark. (AP) — An Arkansas man who killed four people and injured 11 others last year in a mass shooting at a grocery store was sentenced Monday to life in prison without parole. A state judge sentenced Travis Eugene Posey to four life sentences for each count of capital murder. Posey was also sentenced […]

2 days ago

Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., speaks at the annual Fancy Farm picnic Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025, in Fanc...

Associated Press

Mitch McConnell’s legacy comes under fire in Kentucky race to replace him in the Senate

CALVERT CITY, Ky. (AP) — Republican Nate Morris had deftly warmed up a crowd of party faithful, gushing about President Donald Trump and recounting his own life’s journey — from hardscrabble childhood to wealthy entrepreneur — when he turned his attention to the man he wants to replace, Sen. Mitch McConnell. That’s when things got […]

2 days ago

Republicans are considering changes to Trump’s request for $9.4 billion in spending cuts