This marks the first of several anticipated ‘rescission’ packages, where the White House urges lawmakers to reconsider their prior approvals of specific programs. The bill includes 21 budget rescissions, with many pointed out by the Department of Government Efficiency. Trump seeks to reclaim $9.4 billion, including approximately $1.1 billion allocated for public broadcasters such as PBS and NPR.

The package also proposes cutting around $8.3 billion in USAID funding earmarked for international social aid initiatives, including opera for transgender individuals and pro-LGBT organizations worldwide. Conservative Congress members largely back the bill, but more moderate GOP lawmakers express concern about the substantial cuts to the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the implications for public broadcasters, suggesting an internal GOP conflict might be on the horizon.

Complicating matters further is the tight deadline for the rescission package—if not approved by Friday, July 18, it will expire, rendering the spending cuts irrelevant. Trump has cautioned potential dissenters that he will not support their re-election if they oppose the bill to reclaim the unspent funds.

“It is crucial that all Republicans back my Rescissions Bill and, especially, defund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (PBS and NPR), which is worse than CNN & MSDNC combined,” Trump posted on Truth Social last week. “Any Republican who votes to let this monstrosity continue broadcasting will not receive my support or endorsement.”

However, moderate Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine appears unfazed about obtaining Trump’s endorsement. During a Senate hearing with the architect of the White House’s rescissions bill, Director of the United States Office of Management and Budget Russ Vought, Collins indicated she could not endorse his extensive budget changes.

‘I cannot support the cuts that are so deep and so damaging in global health programs,’ Collins told Vought at the end of June. PEPFAR, which was started under former President George W. Bush, has been credited with saving millions of lives. Collins has said she is looking to amend the WH package to exclude cuts to the AIDS prevention program. ‘I can’t imagine why we would want to terminate that program,’ she has said.

Collins has also questioned the cuts to public broadcasters, which she has noted are important to Maine residents – particularly in emergency situations. The moderate has admitted that NPR has a ‘partisan bent’ and has called actions from the outlets president Katherine Maher, including her calling Trump a ‘liar’ and wearing a Joe Biden hat are ‘very troubling.’

South Dakota Republican Sen. Mike Rounds has also taken issue with the public broadcasting cuts. ‘I can’t support this [package] … until we get the issue resolved with regard to these rural radio stations,’ he told CNN. Alaska’s two Republican senators, Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, are also signaling that they may oppose the rescissions package over public broadcasting cuts.

Speaker Mike Johnson has shared his concern that the Senate could try to amend the package and gum up the tight timeline that remains to get the bill passed before the Friday deadline. ‘Yeah. I have concerns. I mean, this should be a pretty simple matter from our perspective, so I’m not sure what to expect, but I hope they keep it intact,’ he told Punchbowl News on Monday. If the moderates in the Senate amend the House-passed version that will be a ‘problem’ Johnson said, adding ‘I asked them not to modify our work.’