By Patricia Zengerle and Bo Erickson

WASHINGTON (Reuters)

The Republican-led U.S. Senate is set to vote next week on President Donald Trump’s proposal to cut $9.4 billion in foreign aid and public broadcasting. This sets the stage for a showdown with Democrats, complicating annual budget discussions.

Senator John Thune of South Dakota, the Senate’s Republican majority leader, indicated that the Senate may take up the bill as soon as Tuesday. “I’m not sure that I have an exact time and day and all that. But it’ll have to be fairly early in the week. I would suspect probably on Tuesday,” Thune stated on Thursday.

The Senate has until July 18 to act on the rescission package— a proposal to retrieve funding that Congress had previously approved — or the bill will lapse, requiring the White House to adhere to the spending plans passed by Congress.

Standalone presidential rescission packages have not passed in years, as prior Congresses have resisted relinquishing their constitutionally mandated control over government spending. For instance, during his first term in 2018, lawmakers rejected Trump’s attempt to rescind $15 billion in spending.

In the current Congress, Trump’s Republicans control narrow majorities in both the Senate and the House and have demonstrated little desire to oppose his policy proposals. Recently, Congress approved Trump’s massive “Big Beautiful Bill,” which funds his domestic agenda, cuts some taxes, and could result in millions of Americans losing health insurance.

The rescissions legislation narrowly passed the House by a vote of 214-212 last month, with four Republicans aligning with 208 Democrats against the bill. However, the Senate presents a tougher challenge, as some Republicans are worried about Trump’s cuts to AIDS fighting programs, global health for women and children, and funding for U.S. rural broadcasters. Senators are expected to propose amendments to address these issues.

In a letter to his party members, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer warned that the proposed cuts to foreign aid and broadcasting could hinder negotiations on the spending bills needed to fund the government for the next fiscal year and prevent a shutdown.

“Republicans’ passage of this purely partisan proposal would be an affront to the bipartisan appropriations process,” Schumer wrote.

Appropriations bills require 60 votes to advance in the Senate, but the rescission package only requires 51 votes, allowing Republicans to pass it without the support of Democrats.