Collins opposed to PEPFAR, global health rescissions proposed by Trump
Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) said Wednesday that she is opposed to a Trump White House proposal that would claw back money Congress has already appropriated for global health programs, including the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).
'I do not support the rescission for PEPFAR and global health programs,' Collins told reporters as she walked into a meeting in the Capitol on Wednesday afternoon.
The White House on Tuesday sent lawmakers a request to rescind $9.4 billion in funding for foreign aid and public broadcasting, which were targeted for cuts by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Congress needs to approve the rescissions package to codify the DOGE cuts.
The package would cut nearly $9 million from PEPFAR and $400 million from global programs intended to control the spread of HIV/AIDS.
Congress has 45 days to act on the package, which will be considered on a procedural fast-track in the Senate, allowing it to pass the upper chamber with a simple majority vote.
Collins in a statement Tuesday said the Appropriations Committee 'will carefully review the rescissions package and examine the potential consequences of these rescissions on global health, national security, national security' and other congressional priorities.
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Trump and Musk's unlikely bromance unraveled in spectacular fashion on Thursday, with the president telling reporters in the Oval Office that he was 'very disappointed' with Musk's criticism of his 'one big beautiful' spending bill, and Musk railing at Trump in real time on X. "I'm very disappointed in Elon," Trump said before a bilateral meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. "I've helped Elon a lot." The president suggested that Musk, like many others before him, had become 'hostile' upon leaving his administration. "I'll be honest, I think he misses the place," Trump said. 'People leave my administration, and they love us, and then at some point they miss it so badly, and some of them embrace it, and some of them actually become hostile." "They leave, and they wake up in the morning, and the glamour is gone," the president added. "The whole world is different, and they become hostile. I don't know what it is." Trump also suggested that Musk was upset that the Republican-backed reconciliation bill did not include an electric vehicle mandate, which would have benefited EV manufacturers, including Tesla. 'He knew the inner workings of the bill better than anybody sitting here. He had no problem with it. All of a sudden he had a problem and he only developed the problem when he found out we were going to cut the EV mandate." "False, this bill was never shown to me even once and was passed in the dead of night so fast that almost no one in Congress could even read it!" Musk wrote on X. 'Whatever,' Musk continued. 'Keep the EV/solar incentive cuts in the bill, even though no oil & gas subsidies are touched (very unfair!!), but ditch the MOUNTAIN of DISGUSTING PORK in the bill.' 'In the entire history of civilization, there has never been legislation that [is] both big and beautiful. Everyone knows this!' Musk added. 'Either you get a big and ugly bill or a slim and beautiful bill. 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On May 27, three days before Musk's farewell press conference in the Oval Office, CBS aired a clip that showed him expressing disappointment that Trump's signature spending bill would undermine his DOGE work. Then on Tuesday, Musk went full blast on the spending package. "I'm sorry, but I just can't stand it anymore," he wrote on X. "This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it." "Call your Senator, Call your Congressman," Musk wrote on Wednesday. "Bankrupting America is NOT ok! KILL the BILL." That brought us to Thursday, when Trump was asked about Musk's attacks during his Oval Office meeting with Merz. "Elon and I had a great relationship," Trump told reporters. "I don't know if we will anymore." In a phone interview with CNN on Friday morning, Trump said he was "not even thinking about" Musk and would not be speaking with him anytime soon. 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Epstein's Lawyer Reveals Whether The Sex Offender Had 'Damaging Information' On Trump After Elon Musk's Bold Claim
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