President Donald Trump is pushing for Congress to pass a multibillion-dollar clawback package. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
At stake are clawbacks that would yank back congressionally approved funding for foreign aid programs and public broadcasting, which Senate Democrats, and some Republicans, have admonished.
The president’s rescissions package proposed cutting just shy of $8 billion from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and over $1 billion from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), the government-backed funding arm for NPR and PBS.
Republicans have broadly lauded the targets, arguing that they are scraping back funding for "woke" programs that do little more than to gird the government’s spending addiction.
TRUMP'S $9 BILLION CLAWBACK PASSES FIRST SENATE TEST, WHILE MORE HURDLES AWAIT
Sen. Lisa Murkowski broke with her party and refused to support advancing the rescissions package. She expressed criticism of the White House's top-down approach. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Murkowski argued on the Senate floor that the rescissions package was effectively usurping Congress’ duty to legislate.
"We're lawmakers, we should be legislating," she said. "What we're getting now is a direction from the White House and being told, ‘This is the priority we want you to execute on it. We'll be back with you with another round.’ I don't accept that."
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Collins contended that lawmakers actually knew little about how or where the clawbacks would come from, and accused the Office of Management and Budget of not painting a clearer picture on the issue.
"I recognize the need to reduce excessive spending and I have supported rescissions in our appropriations bills many times, including the 70 rescissions that were included in the year-long funding bill that we are currently operating under," she said in a statement. "But to carry out our constitutional responsibility, we should know exactly what programs are affected and the consequences of rescissions."
Alex Miller is a writer for Fox News Digital covering the U.S. Senate.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/senate-debate-trumps-9b-clawback-bill-after-dramatic-late-night-votes