The Republican-controlled Senate narrowly approved a sweeping Trump-endorsed rescission bill that slashes nearly $9 billion in previously approved federal spending—including full defunding of PBS and NPR and deep cuts to U.S. foreign aid—by a razor-thin 51–48 vote during a late-night vote.
The measure advanced through a late-night vote-a-rama.
Only two GOP senators—Susan Collins (R‑ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R‑AK)—sided with Democrats to try to block Trump’s efforts to restore fiscal sanity.
Democrat Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) was notably absent from the vote — her staff citing a hospital stay “out of an abundance of caution,” according to Politico.
Vice President JD Vance broke tie votes in committee motions—but wasn’t needed on the final tally.
“I appreciate all the work the administration has done in identifying wasteful spending,” Majority Leader Senator John Thune said in a speech.
“Now it’s time for the Senate to do its part to cut some of that waste out of the budget. It’s a small but important step toward fiscal sanity that we all should be able to agree is long overdue.”
Because the Senate made minor changes to the bill, it now heads back to the House for final approval, where Speaker Mike Johnson is expected to fast-track the vote.
President Trump is poised to sign the bill into law by Friday, delivering yet another blow to the radical globalist agenda that has drained American taxpayer dollars for far too long.
BREAKING: The Senate votes to pass President Trump’s historic plan to Defund PBS and NPR!
The rescission package will go back to the House for a final vote. pic.twitter.com/9EbEeC2DGn
— Media Research Center (@theMRC) July 17, 2025
Fox59 reported:
Collins and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, joined Democrats in voting against the legislation. Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell, the former Republican leader, had voted against moving forward with the bill in a Tuesday procedural vote, saying he was concerned the Trump White House wanted a “blank check,” but he ultimately voted for final passage.
The effort to claw back a sliver of federal spending comes after Republicans also muscled Trump’s big tax and spending cut bill to approval without any Democratic support. The Congressional Budget Office has projected that measure will increase future federal deficits by about $3.3 trillion over the coming decade.
Along with Democrats, Collins and Murkowski both expressed concerns about the cuts to public broadcasting, saying they could affect important rural stations in their states.
Murkowski said in a speech on the Senate floor Tuesday that the stations are “not just your news — it is your tsunami alert, it is your landslide alert, it is your volcano alert.”
[…]
The legislation would also claw back about $8 billion in foreign aid spending.
Among the cuts are $800 million for a program that provides emergency shelter, water and sanitation and family reunification for those who flee their own countries and $496 million to provide food, water and health care for countries hit by natural disasters and conflicts. There also is a $4.15 billion cut for programs that aim to boost economies and democratic institutions in developing nations.
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