(Al Drago/Getty Images)
Fox is told some Senate Republicans are tiring of McConnell opposing the GOP – and President Trump – on various issues. That includes the nay votes to start debate on the spending cancellation bill as well as his vote against the confirmation of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in January.
"He used to be the Leader. He was always telling us we need to stick together," said one GOP senator who requested anonymity. "Now he’s off voting however he wants? How time flies."
Note that McConnell led Senate Republicans as recently as early January.
But McConnell ultimately voted for the legislation when the Senate approved it 51-48 at 2:28 am ET Thursday morning.
Murkowski and Collins were the only noes. The services of Vice President Vance weren’t needed due to McConnell’s aye vote and the absence of Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn. She fell ill and was admitted to George Washington Hospital for exhaustion.
As for the senior senator from Alaska, one GOP senator characterized it as "Murkowski fatigue."
"She always asking. She’s always wanting more," groused a Senate Republican.
Murkowski secured an agreement on rural hospitals in exchange for her vote in favor of the Big, Beautiful Bill earlier this month. However, Murkowski did not secure more specificity on the DOGE cuts or help with rural, public radio stations in Alaska on the spending cut plan.
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"My vote is guided by the imperative of coming from Alaskans. I have a vote that I am free to cast, with or without the support of the President. My obligation is to my constituents and to the Constitution," said Murkowski. "I don't disagree that NPR over the years has tilted more partisan. That can be addressed. But you don't need to gut the entire Corporation for Public Broadcasting."
In a statement, Collins blasted the Trump administration for a lack of specificity about the precision of the rescissions request. Collins, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee in charge of the federal purse strings, also criticized the administration a few months ago for a paucity of detail in the President’s budget.
"The rescissions package has a big problem – nobody really knows what program reductions are in it. That isn’t because we haven’t had time to review the bill," said Collins in a statement. "Instead, the problem is that OMB (the Office of Management and Budget) has never provided the details that would normally be part of this process."
Collins wasn’t the only Republican senator who worried about how the administration presented the spending cut package to Congress. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., fretted about Congress ceding the power of the purse to the administration. But unlike Collins, Wicker supported the package.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, arrives to speak to members of the media at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on Thursday, July 17, 2025. Republicans are set to succeed in their decades-long quest to end federal funding for public broadcasting after the Senate passed a $9 billion package of cuts derived from Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency effort. Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images
"I think we're going to lose a lot of credibility. And we should," replied Kennedy.
But the House needed to sync up with the Senate since it changed the bill – stripping the cut for AIDS funding. House conservatives weren’t pleased that the Senate was jamming them again – just two weeks after major renovations to the House version of the Big, Beautiful Bill. But they accepted their fate.
"It’s disappointing that we're $37 trillion in debt. This to me was low-hanging fruit," said Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo. "At the end of the day, I'll take a base hit, right? It's better than nothing."
White House Budget Director Russ Vought is expected to send other spending cancellation requests to Congress in the coming months. The aim is to target deeper spending reductions recommended by DOGE.
But it doesn’t auger well for future rescissions bills if it’s this much of a battle to trim $9 trillion.
What can you get for that much money? For Republicans, it’s not much.
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Republicans were swinging for the fences with spending cuts.
But in the political box score, this is recorded as just a base hit.
Chad Pergram currently serves as a senior congressional correspondent for FOX News Channel (FNC). He joined the network in September 2007 and is based out of Washington, D.C.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trumps-modest-spending-cuts-package-survives-narrow-senate-vote-some-republicans-break-ranks