Trump's rescissions package passes its first test in Senate thanks to Vance tiebreaker

President Donald Trump's proposal to claw back billions of dollars in previously approved funding for foreign aid and public broadcasting narrowly passed a test vote in the Senate Appropriations Committee, thanks to a tie-breaking vote by Vice President JD Vance. Although it was only an initial step, the outcome exposed divisions within Republican ranks that could influence its legislative progress.

The package contemplated initially cutting $9.4 billion. However, Senate Republican leaders agreed to allocate $400 million to global funding for HIV and AIDS prevention, to gain domestic support. With this modification, the total cuts were reduced to $9 billion.

Tie in the committee and the vice president's deciding vote

Despite the adjustment, three Republican senators joined all the Democrats on the committee in voting against advancing the bill. The result was a tie, requiring the intervention of Vice President JD Vance, who cast the deciding vote to allow the bill to move forward.

Cuts to USAID and public media

The proposal includes nearly $8 billion in cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), as well as more than $1 billion to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which funds outlets such as NPR and PBS.

Persistent resistance in the Republican bloc

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) felt that the elimination of cuts to the PEPFAR program, initiated in the Bush era to combat AIDS, helped quell some of the resistance. However, several senators continued to maintain their objections.

Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) rejected the proposal and sharply questioned the process: "What have we been doing around here? We did a reconciliation bill. We're doing a rescissions bill. We're doing nominations. Nominations are important, but let's, like, legislate." Susan Collins (R-ME), while acknowledging the changes, also voted no. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) did the same.