EXCLUSIVE — The conservatives tapped by the White House to help bring President Donald Trump’s quest to slash foreign aid and public broadcasting funds to fruition view the moment as something greater than clawing back the $9 billion Congress previously approved.

Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO) considers the weeks of vote-wrangling, centrist complaints, and last-minute deal-cutting as the GOP’s test of “political will” for spending cuts in Trump’s second term.