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A new political showdown is brewing in Congress as President Donald Trump pushes Republicans to unilaterally cancel $9.4 billion in previously approved spending, a move that Senate Democrats say could derail bipartisan cooperationand risk a government shutdown this fall.
With a September 30 funding deadline looming, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) issued a sharp warning this week: if Republicans follow through with Trump’s request to bypass Democrats using a procedural shortcut, Democrats will not support a new funding deal.
“It is absurd to expect Democrats to play along with funding the government if Republicans are just going to renege on a bipartisan agreement by concocting rescissions packages behind closed doors,” Schumer said on the Senate floor. “That would be a huge affront.”
The flashpoint is a rarely used “rescissions” package passed last month in the House on a 214-212 party-line vote, which would cut $8.3 billion in foreign aid and $1.1 billion from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting—a key funder of PBS and NPR. The cuts were developed by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and championed by Trump as a way to slash “wasteful” spending.
The package can be passed with a simple majority vote, unlike the standard appropriations process, which requires 60 votes in the Senate to avoid a filibuster. But Democrats warn that using this tactic breaks faith with long-standing bipartisan agreements.
Republican Divisions and Concerns
While Senate Republicans hold a 53-seat majority, several are voicing concerns about the scope and strategy of the rescissions effort.
Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), a member of the Appropriations Committee, warned that using a simple-majority vote to claw back funding will undermine future bipartisan negotiations.
“If you do appropriations in the Senate, you have 60 votes to support it. If you do rescissions, you can take it back with 50 — which makes it tougher to get a bipartisan agreement,” Rounds said.
He and others, including Appropriations Chair Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), have called for changes to the bill. Collins criticized proposed cuts to the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and said the measure requires “significant changes.”
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) added that he supports the majority of the package but is reviewing its implications for national security.
“We’re just looking at any of the national security impacts, any nexus there that would raise concern,” he said.
Democratic Strategy and Shutdown Risk
Democrats say they will not accept a government funding deal if the rescissions move forward without their input — a stance that raises the risk of a shutdown at the end of the fiscal year. To block a funding bill, Democrats would need 41 of their 47 senators to hold firm, something they failed to do during a similar standoff in March.
Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) said the GOP’s approach damages trust:
“If they can undermine the appropriations process by rescinding bipartisan funding on a simple majority vote, that presents real challenges to the appropriations process.”
Bobby Kogan, a former Democratic budget aide, warned that the rescissions effort could permanently alter how Congress funds the government.
“If you can break bipartisan appropriations deals with partisan rescissions packages, that is going to be the end of bipartisan appropriations,” Kogan said.
What’s Next
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) plans to bring the rescissions bill to the floor next week and said it would undergo an open amendment process. Lawmakers have until July 18 to send it to the president’s desk before it expires.
The standoff underscores growing dysfunction in the appropriations process as Republicans, led by Trump, push to reshape spending priorities—favoring defense and immigration while gutting foreign aid and public broadcasting.
As lawmakers debate how to move forward, the threat of a shutdown looms large, with both sides locked in a standoff that could define the trajectory of government spending—and governance—for months to come.
