Trump threatens to withhold endorsements from Republican Senators who oppose DOGE cuts

President Trump is threatening to withhold his endorsement from any Republican Senators who oppose the White House’s $9.4 billion package of DOGE cuts, turning a planned vote next week into an explicit loyalty test and setting up a showdown between the Senate and the White House.

Trump’s threat came after some Republicans-including Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska voiced concerns. “I don’t support the rescissions package as it’s currently drafted,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) said on Wednesday, citing the provisions aimed at PBS and NPR.

Other conservative lawmakers, meanwhile, have said they are worried about the impact the rescission bill would have on rural areas and Native American communities that heavily rely on the public broadcasting channels. Some have proposed adding amendments that would preserve some or all of the funding for NPR and PBS.

“It’s not our goal to come back in and totally eliminate a number of the rescissions, but specifically to take care of those that were in some of these rural areas,” Senator Mike Rounds (R-SD) noted, saying he would negotiate with the White House on the cuts. “This is their way of getting emergency messages out to people. That’s the way in which they communicate in a very rural area.”

Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, has also made it clear that she does not support the bill in its current form and will also be proposing amendments. “I am continuing to discuss possible changes to the rescissions package with members of the Appropriations Committee,” she said Wednesday.

Mr Trump took to Truth Social Thursday evening to warn Republicans that he would potentially back a primary challenge to them if they failed to back the legislation. “It is very important that all Republicans adhere to my Recissions Bill and, in particular, DEFUND THE CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING (PBS and NPR), which is worse than CNN & MSDNC put together,” he said.

“Any Republican that votes to allow this monstrosity to continue broadcasting will not have my support or Endorsement,” Trump added. Prior to proposing the rescission package, the president had signed an executive order in May calling for the cancellation of all federal funds to public media organizations, accusing them of anti-conservative bias.

“Government funding of news media in this environment is not only outdated and unnecessary but corrosive to the appearance of journalistic independence,” the White House stated in the executive order, adding: “At the very least, Americans have the right to expect that if their tax dollars fund public broadcasting at all, they fund only fair, accurate, unbiased, and nonpartisan news coverage.”

The President is making sure that he uses the mandate that his voters gave him as leverage to pressure GOP Senators to support his vision. How well this works will vary, depending on each state and situation.