Vance casts tiebreaking vote to advance DOGE cuts after Republicans defy Trump

Vice President JD Vance had to cast another tiebreaking vote in the Senate to advance President Donald Trump's agenda.

The Senate narrowly advanced the DOGE cuts package in a 51-50 vote late Tuesday night. Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky voted to block the DOGE cuts, prompting Vance to cast his tiebreaking vote.

Congress is inching closer to codifying the first DOGE cuts via the White House's rescissions package, but the $9.4 billion price tag is just a drop in the bucket.

Although some Republicans have gone against the grain, the White House is keen on codifying DOGE cuts.

The rescissions package makes $1.1 billion in cuts to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, including PBS and NPR, which have functionally worked as left-wing organizations subsidized by American taxpayers. The package also cuts $8.3 billion to various leftist projects disguised as foreign aid programs such as the U.S. Agency for International Development.

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Although the DOGE cuts were able to clear a procedural hurdle, senators will now proceed with their vote-a-rama of amendments before scheduling the final floor vote in time for the Friday deadline.

Several House Republicans told Blaze News they were concerned that the Senate would water down the cuts through the amendment process, with one describing the cuts package as "low-hanging fruit."

The DOGE cuts previously passed the House in a narrow 214-212 vote back in June. As in the Senate, a handful of Republicans voted alongside Democrats to block the DOGE cuts, including Reps. Mark Amodei of Nevada, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Nicole Malliotakis of New York, and Mike Turner of Ohio.

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Although some Republicans have gone against the grain, the White House is keen on codifying DOGE cuts. Director Russ Vought of the Office of Management and Budget previously told Blaze News that he would be open to drafting more rescissions packages in the future.

"We're going to go through the process with the Hill to see if this first one passes, and see where we are," Vought said. "... I think it will be successful, and it will certainly inform our strategy going forward."

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