While the nation was distracted by the political theater around immigration before the July 4 recess, the Senate cast a critical vote killing a very modest attempt offered by President Trump to rein in spending. If Trump plays his cards right, this will not be the end of a fight but its start.

The package in dispute was a $15 billion rescission or spending cut package the president presented to Congress in May. Very little of Trump’s package were true cuts. Only about $1 billion in outlays would be reduced according to the Congressional Budget Office. The rest the package pulled back unspent funds for not-so-urgent federal priorities like promoting chocolate covered peanuts and maintaining idle advanced technology loan programs.