4 things to know about the rescissions bill

The Republican-controlled U.S. Senate voted 51-48 early Thursday to pass H.R. 4. The vote fell largely along party lines, with no Democrats supporting the legislation and all but two Republicans voting in favor of it. The two Republicans who broke from their party were Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska. 

H.R. 4 seeks to “rescind certain budget authority proposed to be rescinded in special messages transmitted to the Congress by the President on June 3, 2025, in accordance with Section 1012(a) of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974.”

As then-candidate Donald Trump explained on his campaign website leading up to the 2024 presidential election, “For 200 years under our system of government, it was undisputed that the president had the constitutional power to stop unnecessary spending through what is known as impoundment.” 

Trump detailed how under impoundment, “If Congress provided more funding than was needed to run the government, the president could refuse to waste the extra funds, and instead return the money to the general treasury and maybe even lower your taxes.” He vowed to “use the president’s long-recognized Impoundment Power to squeeze the bloated federal bureaucracy for massive savings,” predicting that such a move will “help quickly to stop inflation and slash the deficit.”

H.R. 4 passed the Republican-controlled House of Representatives in a 214-212 vote last month, with four Republicans joining Democrats in opposing the measure: Reps. Mark Amodei, R-Nev., Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., and Mike Turner, R-Ohio. The bill seeks to rescind billions of dollars in spending appropriated by Congress. Since the Senate amended the legislation as passed by the House, it will require another vote in the lower chamber before it can head to President Donald Trump’s desk. 

Here are four things to know about the rescissions package.