Trump’s slush fund blows up GOP ICE bill push

Republican lawmakers abandoned plans to vote on immigration enforcement funding this week after a tense meeting with Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche over President Donald Trump’s newly announced “Anti-Weaponization Fund.” Senators blamed disagreements tie

WASHINGTON — By Thursday, the ICE funding fight that Republicans had been trying to end was already slipping away from the calendar.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche came to Capitol Hill to try to calm concerns about President Donald Trump’s newly announced “Anti-Weaponization Fund.” It was a meeting meant to smooth over a months-long dispute over Department of Homeland Security funding. It didn’t work. Republican senators left the building upset and unwilling to speak to the press. Within hours, they canceled plans to vote this week and chose an early start to their Memorial Day recess.

Instead of going back to their districts with a win and putting a funding crisis to bed, they headed out to “stew over disagreements” tied to two presidential priorities that many in their caucus view as politically toxic.

Sen. Ted Budd (R-N.C.) said the situation fell apart after “some decisions were made that got that off the rails.” He added: “We were ready to move this. we want to get our enforcement officers regularly funded. and unfortunately. some decisions were made that got that off the rails.” When asked which decisions he was referring to. Budd replied: ”I’m done.”.

Other Republicans pointed to a mix of problems rather than a single breakdown, but they still acknowledged the weaponization fund as part of what soured the timetable. Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) said, “That’s one of the issues we’re working on,” adding: “That’s one that we want some help with.”

The effort to reset the tone with Blanche did not appear to shift the posture of the conference. Senators described the moment as a dead end, and their cancellation of a vote effectively pushed the ICE funding question beyond the June window they had been trying to meet.

Democrats seized on the timing and the chaos inside the Republican camp. At a press conference, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said. “Republicans are in complete disarray.” He added that “Republicans have tied themselves up in knots and torn themselves into shreds over Trump’s brazen. corrupt slush fund for his billionaire cronies and Jan. 6 insurrectionists.”.

A Justice Department spokesperson described the meeting with Blanche as “a healthy discussion.” The spokesperson said the Anti-Weaponization Fund was separate from the Senate’s “budget reconciliation” process. The spokesperson said. “He made clear that the Anti-Weaponization Fund announced Monday has nothing to do with reconciliation; indeed. not a single dime from the money the President is seeking in reconciliation would go toward anything having to do with the Fund. We will continue to work with the Senate to get critical reconciliation funds approved.”.

Even with that line, the fund itself has become a central fault line inside Republican negotiations. The Justice Department announced the fund this week as the result of a “settlement” of Trump’s own personal lawsuit against the IRS. The settlement was not approved by a court. It includes $1.8 billion for supposed victims of “weaponization” during Joe Biden’s presidency. along with the quashing of IRS tax collection efforts against Trump. his family members. or affiliated businesses. The president reportedly faced a tax bill of as much as $100 million.

Republicans had already been struggling over Trump’s demand to add $1 billion for his White House ballroom to the ICE funding bill when the White House announced the slush fund this week. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) told reporters the White House “dropped a bomb in the middle of a pretty well planned out reconciliation bill to help deliver on one of President Trump’s priorities.”.

The question now is whether that “bomb” detonated too late for Republicans to build the votes they needed—especially as the election clock nears and Trump continues to alienate incumbent senators.

The timing, the article notes, came out of the administration’s desire to beat a hearing deadline set for this week by a federal judge. The judge demanded to know why it’s constitutionally appropriate for the federal government to settle a private lawsuit with its own chief executive.

Before Blanche’s meeting. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told reporters Republicans were considering ways of curtailing the settlement fund. “Our members have very legitimate questions about it. and we’ve had some conversations about… how we might make sure that it’s fenced in appropriately. ” Thune said.

One option discussed frequently would disallow Jan. 6 rioters convicted of attacking police officers from applying for payouts. But the way the bill is moving also shapes what Republicans can do next. Republicans are following a special budget process that sidesteps Democratic votes while still allowing Democrats to challenge provisions of the bill as extraneous. Democrats. viewing the fund as fundamentally corrupt. have little incentive to cooperate on small changes. and could potentially block adjustments Republicans wanted to make.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) framed that dynamic bluntly: “Any vote for conditions is, in effect, approval of the slush fund.”

In the end, Republicans appear to have concluded they were stuck. They canceled the scheduled push toward an ICE funding vote before June. leaving the enforcement funding question unresolved—and leaving the fight over Trump’s “Anti-Weaponization Fund” to spread further into the negotiations that come next.

United States politics Republican senators ICE funding Department of Homeland Security Todd Blanche Anti-Weaponization Fund Donald Trump White House ballroom Senate reconciliation John Thune Ted Budd John Hoeven Lisa Murkowski Chuck Schumer Richard Blumenthal Jan. 6 payouts