Senate Progresses on Trump Rescue Package
On Tuesday evening, the Senate made significant progress on President Donald Trump’s rescue package, coinciding with Vice President JD Vance’s visit to the U.S. Capitol to cast a crucial vote.
The Senate voted narrowly, 51-50, with three GOP Senators from Maine, along with Lisa Markowski from Alaska and Mitch McConnell from Kentucky, joining Democrats to reject the president’s $9 billion clawback funding request. Senate Majority Leader John Tune plans to guide the rescue package through the upper chamber ahead of the July 18 deadline. Interestingly, Mike Johnson advised the Senate to reconsider weakening the $9.4 billion retirement package.
With a Republican majority of 53 in the Senate, GOP leadership could afford to lose a few votes. This marks the sixth occasion where Vice President JD Vance has had to break a tie since Trump’s second term began.
In a strategic move, Senate Republicans and the White House agreed to exclude $400 million from global AIDS relief cuts to secure support from moderate senators like Collins.
Despite this, Maine Republicans still pushed to advance the slimmed-down package.
If Congress does not enact the proposal by Friday, the administration will have to allocate $9 billion. The House also needs to approve a second retirement package that reflects the Senate’s decision to remove proposed cuts to global HIV/AIDS relief. During initial discussions, four House Republicans opposed the proposal.
Las Vault, the White House’s executive and budget director, expressed support for the change, affirming that most of the rescue package remains unchanged. “Transitioning from a $9.4 billion package to a $9 billion one is quite promising for American taxpayers,” Vought remarked. “The essential components of this proposal are still very much in play.”
The trio of Maine Republicans has often disagreed with Trump on various issues, including the nomination of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegses and tariff policies since the start of his second term.
