What’s next for Congress after lawmakers passed Trump’s big tax cut bill

WASHINGTON — Congress is now turning its attention to the rescissions package and the 2026 government funding fight after Republicans successfully pushed through President Donald Trump’s massive tax breaks and spending cuts package.

Lawmakers have another tight deadline ahead of them to approve the White House’s request to claw back $9.4 billion in already approved funding by July 18. If Congress does not approve the request by that date, the White House will have to spend the allocated funds.

The package is now in the hands of the Senate and is not expected to be brought to the floor this week, leaving little time for the package to pass in the upper chamber before the deadline, which marks 45 days from when the request was sent to Congress last month.

Senate Republicans will have to work quickly to secure enough votes to pass the bill. Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee Susan Collins, R-ME, has expressed skepticism over the proposal to rescind $8.3 billion from foreign aid and $1.1 billion from public media. In a hearing last month with White House budget director Russ Vought, Collins said she was particularly concerned about cutting $400 million from AIDS relief.

“Cutting funding now—funding that is aimed at preventing disease transmission—would be extraordinarily ill-advised and shortsighted,” she said.

U.S. Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., an appropriator, emphasized in that June Senate hearing that when considering foreign aid cuts, it’s important to take into account how U.S. adversaries could step in and fill gaps in foreign countries that would be left by the United States clawing back funds for international programs.

“I want to make sure that we are in a strong position to combat China,” Britt told Alabama Daily News last month.

The U.S. House passed the recissions package in June with Alabama’s delegation split on party lines in the vote. Republicans, like Rep. Barry Moore, R-Enterprise, have pointed to Congress potentially considering more rescissions packages after this first one to help combat estimated increases in the deficit incurred from Trump’s megabill. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the massive tax cut bill will add $3.4 trillion to the deficit over the next decade.

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Government funding

Congress will also face a spending fight to fund the federal government for the next fiscal year as it faces a Sept. 30 deadline. Appropriators will try to tackle the 12 appropriations bills before then. Lawmakers will be out of Washington for a four-week recess in August.

The Senate Appropriations Committee will markup its first spending bills this Thursday to oversee funding for commerce, justice, science, agriculture, the food and drug administration and the Legislative branch.

The House has passed one appropriations bill so far this year for military construction and veterans affairs. Two Democrats joined Republicans to support the bill on the House floor on June 25. The House Appropriations Committee has also advanced four other bills out of committee.

Rep. Dale Strong, R-Huntsville, a member of the Appropriations Committee, championed the VA appropriations bill after it passed the House for its provisions benefiting North Alabama. The bill calls for a new report to gather data on veterans to be used to determine what areas in the country need a VA cemetery. Strong’s office said north Alabama would rank second.

“This funding bill also makes an effort to fund key construction projects to support readiness and our national security, expands mental health services, combats veteran homelessness, and makes smart investments in the Indo-Pacific to push back against China’s growing threat,” Strong said in a statement in June.

Alabama’s appropriators

Britt will oversee funding for the Department of Homeland Security, which includes U.S. Customs and Border Protection and FEMA, as chair of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee this year. Also on the House side, Rep. Robert Aderholt, R-Haleyville, will oversee the appropriations bill for the Education, Labor and Health and Human Services departments as chair of the subcommittee.