Sen. Susan Collins of Maine was one of three Republicans to vote against the controversial Trump administration spending bill that advanced Tuesday night when Vice President JD Vance broke a 50-50 tie in the Senate.

The $9.4 billion rescission package eliminates funding for programs already approved by Congress, including for global health and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

“The rescissions package has a big problem — nobody really knows what program reductions are in it,” Collins said in a prepared statement released after the procedural vote. “That isn’t because we haven’t had time to review the bill. Instead, the problem is that (the Office of Management and Budget) has never provided the details that would normally be part of this process.

“Congress approves rescissions regularly. When we do it as part of the annual appropriations process, we do so with an understanding of what we are cutting. This was also the case in 1992, the last time Congress approved rescissions under the Impoundment Control Act.  That just isn’t the case here.”

Sens. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska also voted against the rescission package.

A final vote in the Senate could occur as early as Wednesday. The bill would then return to the House for another vote before it would go to Trump’s desk for his signature before a Friday deadline.

It was unclear earlier Tuesday whether Republicans would have the votes to advance the bill, even with President Donald Trump signaling that there would electoral consequences for Republicans who didn’t fall in line.

Russell Vought, director of the OMB, met with Senate Republicans Tuesday afternoon to shore up support.

During that meeting, Vought said the White House would back off its proposal to cut $400 million from the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, program, the global AIDS initiative created by former President George W. Bush.

Collins, who is facing reelection next year, is the top Senate appropriator and expressed concerns about the some of the proposed cuts of $8.3 billion in funding for global health programs, including PEPFAR, and an additional $1.1 billion in cuts to public broadcasting.

“I am pleased that the administration has abandoned its original request to impose a $400 million cut to PEPFAR, the successful global AIDS prevention program that has saved 26 million lives and allowed nearly 8 million babies to be born HIV-free to mothers living with HIV,” Collins said in her statement Tuesday night.

Collins repeated objections she raised Monday about the lack of specifics in the bill.

“The sparse text that was sent to Congress included very little detail and does not give an accounting of the specific program cuts that would total $9.4 billion,” she said. “For example, there are $2.5 billion in cuts to the Development Assistance account, which covers everything from basic education, to water and sanitation, to food security — but we don’t know how those programs will be affected.”

“It’s extremely unusual for any senator to not be able to get that kind of detailed information,” Collins had told reporters on Monday.

Collins has argued that funding global health programs to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS and other diseases, to combat hunger, and provide nourishment to mothers and their babies are key sources of soft power, providing the U.S. with nonmilitary influence.

Her concerns about the cuts to public broadcasting are primarily focused on impacts to local programming and emergency communications, especially in rural areas. She has expressed support for defunding National Public Radio, which she accuses of having a leftward bias.

Sen. Angus King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, railed against the rescission package in a 20-minute floor speech on Tuesday, saying the proposal eliminates all United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funding, rather than defunding questionable projects within the program. He said China has already tried to fill the vacuum left by the administration and is gaining influence in Africa and Latin America.

King also opposed cuts to public broadcasting, but his biggest concern was about Congress handing more power to the executive branch, especially its constitutional power of the purse. He said the bill essentially “shreds the appropriations process” and makes the Senate Appropriations Committee, which is chaired by Collins, “a rubber stamp for whatever the administration wants.”

“I don’t care whether it’s Donald Trump or the Archangel Gabriel — it’s dangerous to have the power in one set of hands — that’s how we lose our liberty,” King said. “I don’t know what it’s going to take. But I hope this debate, this discussion, will lead us to finally say this is a line too far — we’re going to draw a line here.”

Collins holds a key vote in a closely divided Senate, where Republicans can afford to lose only three votes and still advance the legislation.

Earlier this month, Collins voted against Trump’s mega budget bill, which made permanent his 2017 tax cuts that primarily benefited the wealthy and made significant cuts to Medicaid and clean energy programs, while boosting funding for immigration and border enforcement. The bill could lead to more than 11 million Americans losing health care, including an estimated 40,000 in Maine.

Collins’ vote resulted in a 50-50 tie, after Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, was won over after receiving concessions to benefit her home state. Vance broke the tie, and Trump signed the bill on July 4.

Trump gave Collins, who is the only Republican up for reelection in a state won by Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024, a pass on that vote, choosing not to publicly attack her like he did Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who announced he would not seek reelection.

But Trump made it clear that any Republican defectors this time could face electoral consequences, especially if they support public broadcasting funding.

“It is very important that all Republicans adhere to my Recissions (sic) Bill and, in particular, DEFUND THE CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING (PBS and NPR), which is worse than CNN & MSDNC put together,” Trump said in a July 10 social media post. “Any Republican that votes to allow this monstrosity to continue broadcasting will not have my support or Endorsement.”

Trump proposed a rescission bill during his first term, but it went nowhere. Collins, along with Sen. Richard Burr, R-North Carolina, joined Democrats in 2018 to oppose discharging the bill, which included $15 billion in cuts to programs like children’s health and housing programs, from the appropriations committee.