Vance needed for tie-breaking vote in Senate

Donald Trump just got another win in Congress, but he needed his VP to deliver it for him.

Several Republican Senators went over to the dark side.

So, Vance was called in to provide the tie-breaking vote, passing Trump’s rescissions package.

The Dark Side

We knew all along that Senators Murkowski (R-AK) and Collins (R-ME) were not fully on board with the cuts.

Both had expressed concerns over some of the programs that were being trimmed, which gave Trump only one more vote to spare.

That last vote was taken by Senator McConnell (R-KY), who has never seen an American taxpayer dollar he did not want to spend.

Luckily for Trump, that is where it ended, but that is far from the end of Trump’s problems on this front.

We Need JD

Majority Leader Thune (R-S.D.) knew the vote would be tight, stating prior to the vote, “There was a lot of interest from our members on doing something on PEPFAR. That’s reflected in the substitute.”

He continued, “We hope that if we can get this across the finish line in the Senate, that the House will accept that one small modification that ends up making the package about a $9 billion rescissions package.”

Since the vote was 50-50, the tiebreaker goes to the VP, and we all know how he voted.

After the package passed, White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought celebrated, stating, “From a $9.4 billion package to a $9 billion package, that’s something that’s very exciting for the American taxpayer. Big chunks of this proposal are not falling out.”

More Concerns

While Trump did get this bill passed, he will not be so lucky next time, based on the reactions of several Republican Senators.

For instance, Senator Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) stated, “Conservatives, particularly, I find it remarkable just how open we are to not demanding the details before we vote."

Tillis added, “But I’m not going to hold it up because of the relatively small size of it, but I think going forward, it would be virtually impossible to get another rescission package done at any scale if they don’t do their homework.”

Tillis did not vote for the BBB either, and wound up being chased out of the Senate into retirement for it. So, if Trump expects to get another package passed, he may want to wait until Tillis leaves office, as I don’t think he will support this again.