President Donald Trump has raised the stakes for next week’s Senate vote on a $9 billion-plus rescissions package, saying that any GOP senator who votes against cutting funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting won’t get his support.
“It is very important that all Republicans adhere to my Recissions Bill and, in particular, DEFUND THE CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING (PBS and NPR), which is worse than CNN & MSDNC put together,” Trump posted on Truth Social Thursday night.
“Any Republican that votes to allow this monstrosity to continue broadcasting will not have my support or Endorsement,” Trump added.
Trump’s comments complicate what’s already a difficult situation for several GOP senators over the rescissions package, which the Senate is expected to begin debating on Tuesday. Republican congressional leaders face a July 18 deadline to pass the measure.
The White House-authored package includes a $1 billion-plus cut to CPB, which helps fund NPR and PBS. The remainder of the rescissions package includes more than $8 billion in cuts to foreign aid, a top GOP target. (The State Department is expected to begin mass layoffs today as well.)
Some GOP senators oppose cutting CPB’s budget because of the important role that public radio plays, especially in rural areas. They’ve discussed amending the rescissions package to scale back the CPB reduction.
Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) also wants to protect funding for PEPFAR – the George W. Bush-era program designed to fight the global spread of HIV and AIDS.
Collins, though, hasn’t formally offered any changes yet as Senate GOP leaders try to figure out what Trump and OMB Director Russ Vought would accept. Vought is the driving force behind the rescissions package, part of a broader challenge by the Trump administration to Congress’ power of the purse.
GOP insiders suggested that Trump’s post is a signal that the White House won’t oppose protecting PEPFAR, as long as the public-broadcasting cut remains intact.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and other top Democrats have warned that passage of the rescissions measure, even as an amended package, jeopardizes the whole appropriations process.
Looking ahead: There’s already big problems inside the Senate Appropriations Committee. The panel’s markup of the Commerce-Justice-Science bill blew up on Thursday over a dispute about the site for a new FBI headquarters. And it’s not clear if and when the CJS bill is going to get back on the panel’s radar.
But Sen. Patty Murray (Wash.), top Democrat on Appropriations, is still looking to make a bipartisan deal with Collins.
That would give the Senate a united front against the White House and House Republicans, who are drafting FY2026 bills based on Trump’s “skinny budget.” That proposal calls for more than $160 billion in cuts to non-defense discretionary spending, something that both House Democrats and the Senate oppose.
Despite the CJS fight, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved the Agriculture and Legislative Branch bills on Thursday by big margins.
We also expect at least one bill to be marked up in committee next week. Possibly something with broad bipartisan support like the MilCon-VA bill.
And there’s another issue that’s really important for appropriators – earmarks. If Congress again passes a CR this fall to fund federal agencies, then members and senators don’t get earmarks. Appropriators won’t like that at all.
For instance, the Ag bill approved on Thursday has $280 million in earmarks for senators in both parties, including Collins, Murray and Schumer.
