'Gut check time': Dissent among Senate GOP ranks threatens to reduce Trump's spending cut demand

Senate Republicans are gearing up to claw back billions of dollars in foreign aid and constituents broadcasting funding but dissent is brewing among a few who could eat into President Donald Trump s cut request A cohort of Senate Republicans are publicly and privately growing squeamish over the White House s billion rescissions package which would slash billion from the U S Agency for International Progress USAID and over billion from the Corporation for Community Broadcasting CPB the government-backed funding arm for NPR and PBS 'BAIT AND SWITCH' SCHUMER WARNS OF BITTER FUNDING FIGHT OVER GOP CUTS PLANThe cuts stem from Trump s Department of Cabinet Efficiency DOGE which was lauded by greater part Republicans for its mission to root out waste fraud and abuse in the federal leadership Still concerns and calls for changes are being made in particular to proposed slashes to the President s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief PEPFAR and the constituents broadcasting fund Publicly Sens Susan Collins R-Maine Mike Rounds R-S D and Lisa Murkowski R-Alaska have all aired their concerns about the House-passed bill and are eyeing changes that could see the cuts reduced TRUMP'S PLAN TO SLASH 'WOKE' FOREIGN AID NPR FUNDS CLEARS HOUSE AS SENATE BATTLE LOOMS I don't like it as it is currently drafted Murkowski revealed I m a strong supporter of the Corporation for Society Broadcasting and our fitness programs are central Collins has raised issues with slashes to PEPFAR an issue brought forth during a hearing with White House officers last month while Rounds is worried about funding being slashed to rural radio stations particularly for Native American populations in his state and others and their ability to get good information during times of stress Senate Republican leadership already has plans for an amendment process on the bill which will likely culminate in another marathon vote-a-rama amendment session roughly two weeks after the grueling amendment process for Trump s big beautiful bill Senate Majority Leader John Thune R-S D revealed that he intended to put the package on the Senate floor next week likely ahead of the Friday deadline for lawmakers to advance the clawbacks If the bill is amended it would have to be sent back to the House before heading to Trump s desk Sen Markwayne Mullin R-Okla notified Fox News Digital that he expected the vote-a-rama to begin Wednesday and explained the hope was that leadership would be able to address as plenty of concerns among Republicans as attainable before bringing the bill to the floor Whatever it takes we re having those conversations he noted The point is once we get to the vote-a-rama we want to have as much issues resolved so we know where we're at on the floor without any surprises And I think we can do that maybe not but I think we can I think we got a good picture of where we're at right now Other lawmakers see the package in its current form as a no-brainer to pass Sen John Kennedy R-La noted that if amendments were offered to keep spending that he agreed with he could find himself supporting tweaks to the package But he challenged his colleagues to reject a spending cut package that ultimately amounted to less than half a percent of the nation s entire budget This is gut check time for our Republican colleagues he reported They either believe in reducing spending or they don't They either believe in spending porn or they don't and I've listened to my colleagues especially in the last plus days talk about how great DOGE was Well now is the chance to show it