WASHINGTON >> A Senate panel challenged on a bipartisan basis the merits of cancelling billions of dollars in spending for foreign aid and public media as part of a contentious hearing Wednesday examining the White House’s request for the cuts.

The House has voted to claw back $9.4 billion as requested by President Donald Trump. Now, the Senate is preparing to take up the package with a July 18 deadline for action. If the Senate declines to approve a measure by then, the Trump administration must obligate and spend the funds in question.

Russell Vought, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, defended the proposed cuts, part of the administration’s efforts to follow through on work done by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency when it was overseen by billionaire ally Elon Musk.

“A vote for rescissions is a vote to show that the United States Senate is serious about getting our fiscal house in order,” Vought told the lawmakers.

Senators from both parties voiced concerns about the president’s request. Their skepticism suggests that some aspects of the package could be altered through the amendment process, or that perhaps the bill will falter entirely.

Maine Sen. Susan Collins, the Republican chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, questioned the proposed cuts to both public media and a program that combats the global HIV epidemic. Holding up a bottle of vitamins for pregnant moms and a package of peanut butter-based food supplements for malnourished children, Collins said it was hard to discern based on the information given lawmakers whether such aid would continue.

“These are not only the right thing to do for humanitarian reasons, but they are incredible instruments of soft power,” Collins said.

Vought said lifesaving aid would continue and that the administration was focused on clawing back the “funding of liberal (non-profit organizations) doing activities that the American people wouldn’t support.”

The ranking Democrat on the panel, Washington Sen. Patty Murray, called on senators to reject the request entirely, saying it would undermine the committee’s influence.

“If we do not reject this recissions package outright and seriously defend the authority of Congress and the work of this committee, we will find very quickly our bills become a loss less important and our time is consumed by more and more rescissions packages,” Murray said.

Collins and other lawmakers with a large rural constituency voiced concern about what cancelling nearly $1.1 billion for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting would mean for public media stations throughout the country. Some money is assigned to National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting System to support national programming. But Collins said most goes to locally owned public radio and television stations.

“The vast majority of this funding, more than 70%, actually flows to local television and radio stations,” Collins said.

The White House says the public media system is politically biased and an unnecessary expense. Vought said he would work with lawmakers through separate legislation to try to find a way to help local stations survive. At the same time, he said they would also have time to adjust to the cut because the rescission covers the coming two budget years, not the current one.

The hearing comes amid increased tensions between the White House and Congress over the administration’s moves to cancel funds approved on a bipartisan basis.