Vice President JD Vance cast two tie-breaking votes in the Senate Tuesday to move forward a $9.4B rescissions package — which would rip federal funding from PBS and NPR — in the upper chamber.
The Senate deadlocked, 50-50, on two procedural votes to start debate on the multibillion-dollar spending clawback package before Vance’s votes advanced the measure requested by the White House.
Three Republicans – Sens. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) – joined all Democrats in opposition to the bill.
The package, approved by the House of Representatives last month, axes approximately $8.3 billion previously allocated to the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and $1.1 billion to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which partially finances National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS).
A proposed $400 million cut to the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) program is expected to be scrapped via an amendment before the bill comes up for a final vote.
“There was a lot of interest from our members on doing something on PEPFAR,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) told reporters after a meeting with Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russ Vought. “That’s reflected in the substitute.”
“We hope that if we can get this across the finish line in the Senate, that the House will accept that one small modification that ends up making the package about a $9 billion rescissions package,” Thune added.
Collins defended her “no” vote by arguing OMB didn’t provide senators with details about what programs would be scrapped as a result of the clawback.
“The rescissions package has a big problem – nobody really knows what program reductions are in it,” she said in a statement. “That isn’t because we haven’t had time to review the bill. Instead, the problem is that OMB has never provided the details that would normally be part of this process.”
Collins cited $2.5 billion in proposed cuts to the “Development Assistance account,” which she said, “covers everything from basic education, to water and sanitation, to food security – but we don’t know how those programs will be affected.”
The Maine Republican also described the cuts to public broadcasters as “excessive” and expressed concern that PBS viewers would lose access to “popular programs like ‘Antiques Road Show’ and ‘Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood.’”
“I share the frustration with the biased reporting by NPR, and I would support defunding it,” Collins continued. “ Nevertheless, local TV and radio stations continue to provide important coverage.”
She noted that CPB funding in Maine supports the state’s emergency alert network and allows high school basketball games to air on television.
“We should know exactly what programs are affected and the consequences of recissions,” Collins stressed.
The Senate now has at least 10 hours to debate the measure before amendments are voted on and a final vote takes place.
The House, which narrowly passed the measure in a 214-212 vote in June, would then need to consider the changes the Senate makes to the bill.
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