Republicans Cancel Votes on Trump’s $1.776 Billion Anti-Weaponization Fund After DOJ Concerns

Republican Senate leaders canceled votes on a GOP package to fund ICE and the Border Patrol until June after objections to President Donald Trump’s “anti-weaponization” fund left GOP senators without consensus, NBC News reported.

“Senate goes on break amid GOP plan to curtail Trump 'anti-weaponization' and ballroom funding Democrats are powerless to block it from passing if Republicans stick together”

ABC News

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said after canceling the votes, “Well, that’s a big issue,” and he told reporters the Justice Department “need to help with this issue, because we have a lot of members who are concerned, obviously, about the timing, but also about the substance.”

ABC News

The Justice Department has said it plans to make $1.776 billion in taxpayer money available for the fund, and NBC News reported that, given Democratic opposition, Republicans would need to add it to the immigration “reconciliation” package to pass it with only Republican votes.

ABC News reported that Senate Republicans were poised to try to rein in $1 billion for the East Wing expansion and nearly $1.8 billion for an “Anti-Weaponization Fund,” but Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche canceled pre-scheduled travel to go to Capitol Hill to address concerns.

ABC News also reported that Republican Sen. Susan Collins said “no,” Blanche did not change his mind about the weaponization fund, and Republican Sen. John Hoeven said the “consensus building process” on the matter is “going to require more work.”

CBS News said the Justice Department’s new $1.776 billion fund to provide payouts to people alleging the legal system was “weaponized” against them drew immediate scrutiny over legality, enforcement, and implementation.

CBS News reported that the fund is set to receive nearly $1.8 billion from the Judgment Fund and that the Justice Department said there are no “partisan requirements” to seek compensation, while also noting that neither the Justice Department nor the White House specified criteria for eligibility or whether there would be a cap on payouts.

CBS News

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told lawmakers at a Senate hearing that the five-member commission overseeing the fund’s board would supply information on who can receive relief and how much, CBS News reported.

CBS News also described a legal challenge by a pair of U.S. Capitol Police officers seeking to block the fund, who claimed potential payouts to people involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack increased their risk of “vigilante violence” and continued harassment and death threats.

ABC News reported that the taxpayer-funded pool of money would be administered by a five-person commission appointed by the acting attorney general with little oversight aside from the president, who could remove members, and it said Blanche released a fact sheet stating senators themselves can apply to receive money from the fund.

The dispute over who could benefit from the “anti-weaponization” fund sharpened as lawmakers pressed Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche on eligibility and transparency, while the Justice Department’s own materials emphasized broad access.

PBS News reported that the one-page summary given to Republican senators said the fund was created to help people “who were victims of lawfare and weaponization,” including millions of Americans “whose online speech was censored at the behest of the government,” and it said “There is no partisan restriction.”

PBS News also reported that the memo indicated the Trump family cannot benefit from the fund, though it did not specify how that will be enforced, and it said Democrats can submit claims according to the structure outlined by the agency’s summary.

In a separate challenge described by CBS News, the officers and others seeking to challenge the fund in court face a hurdle of proving legal standing, and CBS News quoted law professor Paul Figley saying, “No court is going to allow that.”

CNN reported that the fund’s critics focused on the possibility of compensating convicted criminals, including those who stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, and it quoted retiring North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis saying, “Stupid on stilts,” as the Senate’s consideration of a major immigration enforcement package derailed.