Hours after reports that Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) was against advancing President Donald Trump's "rescissions" bill to defund foreign aid and public broadcasting, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) followed suit.
“I've got concerns about the details that we have not been able to fully receive," said Murkowski, reported NBC News' Frank Thorp on Tuesday evening. "But more important than all of that, more important is our role here. I don't want us to go from one reconciliation bill to a rescissions package to another rescissions package to a reconciliation package to a continuing resolution.”
Murkowski was the deciding vote for Trump's "big, beautiful bill," extending high-earner tax cuts and cutting over $1 trillion from Medicaid and food assistance to clear the Senate earlier this month.
She claimed to have serious problems with the bill and expressed hope that the House would further revise the bill, even as it was clear House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) intended to force through the bill unchanged.
Trump's rescissions package is running headlong into concerns by a variety of Senate Republicans, many of whom want to make changes to the bill, and others of whom fear the elimination of funding for various popular federal programs would lead to public outrage and more offensive openings for Democratic campaigns.
According to earlier reports, Trump is watching the debate on the bill carefully, gauging Senate Republicans' loyalty to his agenda by their votes.
