Republicans split on Trump plan to cut USAID and public broadcasting

Senate Republicans are gearing up to claw back billions of dollars in foreign aid and public broadcasting funding, but dissent is brewing among some who could eat into President Donald Trump’s cut request.

A cohort of Senate Republicans are publicly and privately growing squeamish over the White House’s $9.4 billion rescissions package, which would slash $8.3 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.

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President Donald Trump speaks to reporters on the South Lawn before boarding Marine One and departing the White House on July 1, 2025, in Washington. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

The cuts stem from Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which was lauded by most Republicans for its mission to root out waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government.

Still, concerns and calls for changes are being made, in particular to proposed slashes to the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the public broadcasting fund.

Publicly, Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, Mike Rounds, R-S.D., and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, have all aired their concerns about the House-passed bill and are eyeing changes that could see the cuts reduced.

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Sen. Lisa Murkowski at the U.S. Capitol Building on July 1, 2025, in Washington. (Getty Images)

“I don’t like it as it is currently drafted,” Murkowski said. “I’m a strong supporter of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and our health programs are important.”

Collins has raised issues with slashes to PEPFAR, an issue brought forth during a hearing with White House officials last month, while Rounds is worried about funding being slashed to rural radio stations, particularly for Native American populations in his state and others “and their ability to get good information during times of stress.”

Senate Republican leadership already has plans for an amendment process on the bill, which will likely culminate in another marathon vote-a-rama amendment session — roughly two weeks after the grueling amendment process for Trump’s “big, beautiful bill.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said that he intended to put the package on the Senate floor next week, likely ahead of the Friday deadline for lawmakers to advance the clawbacks.

Senator Markwayne Mullin, a Republican from Oklahoma, speaks during a Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing in Washington on Jan. 14, 2025.  (Al Drago)

If the bill is amended, it would have to be sent back to the House before heading to Trump’s desk.

Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., told Fox News Digital that he expected the vote-a-rama to begin Wednesday, and said the hope was that leadership would be able to address as many concerns among Republicans as possible before bringing the bill to the floor.

“Whatever it takes, we’re having those conversations,” he said. “The point is, once we get to the vote-a-rama, we want to have as much issues resolved so we know where we’re at on the floor without any surprises. And I think we can do that, maybe not, but I think we can. I think we got a good picture of where we’re at right now.”

Other lawmakers see the package in its current form as a no-brainer to pass.

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Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said that if amendments were offered to keep spending that he agreed with, he could find himself supporting tweaks to the package. But he challenged his colleagues to reject a spending cut package that ultimately amounted to less than half a percent of the nation’s entire budget.

“This is gut check time for our Republican colleagues,” he said. “They either believe in reducing spending or they don’t. They either believe in spending porn or they don’t, and I’ve listened to my colleagues, especially in the last 100 plus days, talk about how great DOGE was. Well, now is the chance to show it.”