Senate Republicans are postponing consideration of their filibuster-proof immigration enforcement funding bill until June after it got snagged in a political debate over the Trump administration’s $1.8 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund.
The bill includes $1.5 billion in funding for the Department of Justice, which creates a jurisdictional lane for Democrats to offer amendments targeting the Anti-Weaponization Fund at a simple-majority threshold.
Those amendments would likely draw enough GOP support to be adopted and could derail the entire bill.
Republicans discussed developing their own proposal to address concerns about the fund and preempt Democrats’ attacks. They could not reach consensus on Thursday, so they agreed to continue talks with the administration while Congress is in recess next week.
“We’ll sort it out from here, but obviously it became a more complicated and bumpy path than we had hoped for,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota.
Republicans are using the filibuster-proof budget reconciliation process to provide immigration enforcement agencies, which Democrats refused to fund through the regular appropriations process, with roughly $70 billion to last through the remainder of President Trump’s term.
Mr. Trump said he wanted the bill on his desk by June 1. GOP leaders sought to keep the measure narrowly targeted to funding law enforcement to make it easier to pass quickly, but that did not go as planned.
Their addition of $1 billion in funding for the Secret Service caused an uproar because of the administration’s plans to use some of that money for security upgrades to the new White House East Wing that will house a 1,000-seat ballroom.
Republicans were also caught off guard by the Justice Department’s Monday announcement of the Anti-Weaponization Fund, which was established as part of a settlement reached with Mr. Trump after he sued the IRS for the unauthorized leak of his tax returns during his first term.
The goal of the fund is to provide settlement payments to people who have legitimate claims of overzealous prosecution or other government weaponization.
The president and his sons, who were party to the IRS lawsuit, will get a formal apology but do not qualify for a payout.
Mr. Trump has said he wants to help other Republicans who were targeted by the Biden administration, but the fund is technically open to anyone from either party with a weaponization claim.
Many Senate Republicans are not fans of the fund and, at a minimum, want to establish guardrails on how it is administered and who can qualify for payouts.
Mr. Thune said the administration needs to help identify a solution to appease senators’ concerns before Republicans can proceed with the budget reconciliation package, which he hopes to bring to a vote the week of June 1.
Democrats celebrated the delay as a sign that their pressure campaign is working.
“Republicans have tied themselves up in knots and torn each other to shreds over Trump’s brazenly corrupt slush fund for his billionaire cronies and January 6 insurrectionists,” said Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat.
He said the GOP’s only way out is to stop backing the fund and join Democrats “in fighting the corruption that Trump just revels in.”
The IRS case settlement directed acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to establish the Anti-Weaponization Fund and the requirements for it.
The plan he announced Monday would allow him to appoint five members — one in consultation with congressional leaders — to oversee the $1.776 billion fund and process claims.
Sen. John Curtis, Utah Republican, said he does not support “the executive branch being able to, at their will, send money to people without the proper judicial work.”
Mr. Blanche met with Senate Republicans at the Capitol on Thursday to field their questions and concerns about the fund.
Sen. Susan Collins, Maine Republican, said she sought clarity on whether rioters who broke into the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 — some of whom assaulted police officers trying to stop them — would get payouts.
Other Republicans pressed Mr. Blanche about who would qualify, and the need for independent oversight over the awards process.
“I thought he took it all in stride, and I think he has an appreciation for the depth of feeling on the issue,” Mr. Thune said.
Mr. Blanche set a deadline of Dec. 1, 2028, for claims to be processed, ensuring the Trump administration will have exclusive control over the fund.
“People are concerned about paying their mortgage or rent, affording groceries and paying for gas, not about putting together a $1.8 billion fund for the President and his allies to pay whomever they wish with no legal precedent or accountability,” Sen. Bill Cassidy, Louisiana Republican, posted on social media before the Thursday discussion.
“This is adding to our national debt,” he added. “If there needs to be a settlement, the administration should bring it to Congress to decide.”
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