Cutting Government Fraud and Waste - bill passes in Senate

Senate Advances Trump’s $9 Billion Spending Cut Bill as Vance Casts Tie-Breaking Vote

Vice President JD Vance cast a vote to break the 50–50 tie on the package

Vice President JD Vance on July 15 cast a tie-breaking vote to advance a package that would rescind $9 billion in funding for the federal government, a trimmed-down version of President Donald Trump’s $9.4 billion rescissions request.

Lawmakers advanced the bill past a key procedural hurdle in a 51–50 vote. Three Republicans, including Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), and Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) voted against advancing the legislation. The vote was held open for nearly half an hour after Sen. Dave McCormick’s (R-Pa.) “Yes” vote brought the legislation to 50–50 before Vance arrived.

It’s a big win for Trump and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) after weeks of negotiation and infighting over the rescissions package, which is utilizing the process laid out in the Impoundment Control Act of 1974.

Responding to reports that the Senate would cut PEPFAR funding, (global AIDS relief program)  Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Texas) told The Epoch Times, “I think the Senate should take up the bill as we wrote it in the House. You know what we’re doing is really just codifying waste, fraud and abuse [cuts] that the DOGE team found.”

Gill added that “large portions” of funding to USAID and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting “are either fraudulent or just deliberately wasteful.”

Read more at The Epoch Times