Senate Republicans Delay Immigration Enforcement Bill Over Trump $1.776B Settlement Fund

Senate Republicans abruptly left Washington on Thursday without voting on a roughly $70 billion bill to fund immigration enforcement agencies after an impasse over whether to try to block a new $1.776 billion settlement fund created to compensate Trump allies who said they were politically prosecuted.

“Backlash to Trump’s $1”

Associated Press

The delay followed a tense meeting with acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune said afterward that Blanche “had an appreciation for the depth of feeling” among GOP senators.

Associated Press

Republicans had already abandoned part of the bill that provided $1 billion in security money for the White House complex and President Donald Trump’s ballroom, and the Justice Department’s settlement prompted further questions about whether taxpayer dollars could go to Trump supporters who harmed law enforcement officers in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

Soon after the meeting ended, Republican leaders announced they would not vote on the immigration enforcement measure until they returned from a Memorial Day recess the week of June 1, which the AP described as Trump’s self-imposed deadline for passage.

Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell called the settlement “utterly stupid, morally wrong,” saying “The nation’s top law enforcement official is asking for a slush fund to pay people who assault cops?”

Thune tied the breakdown to the White House’s handling of the settlement, saying Thursday that the White House should have consulted Congress before it announced the settlement, which he said made “everything way harder than it should be.”

Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican, posted on X that “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,” and he argued that any settlement should be brought to Congress.

CNBC

In a separate statement, Sen. Mitch McConnell said the Justice Department was seeking a slush fund to pay people who assault cops, framing the issue as a moral and legal line for the party.

The dispute also intersected with broader GOP tensions, with the AP reporting that Democrats planned to force votes to block the anti-weaponization fund or place restrictions on it through a budget process that allows a long series of amendment votes.

Trump, meanwhile, told reporters at the White House that he “only do what’s right,” after being asked whether he was losing control of the Senate.

The pause in voting meant Congress would miss Trump’s June 1 deadline for final passage of the immigration enforcement package, and CNBC reported that the House canceled votes on Friday while a trip Speaker Mike Johnson had planned to the White House was called off.

“Senate Republicans are pressing pause on their push to fund immigration enforcement after a tense, closed-door meeting”

Fox News

Democrats said the episode showed Republican dysfunction, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters, “This afternoon Republicans, so divided, so dysfunctional, so disorganized, are fleeing Washington,” adding that “the American people are suffering for it.”

The anti-weaponization fund became the flashpoint because Democrats said they would force votes to block it outright or ban payments to Trump supporters who harmed law enforcement officers on Jan. 6, 2021, during the Capitol attack.

Republicans also faced internal pressure over the White House ballroom security request, with PBS reporting that leaders were expected to abandon a proposal for $1 billion in security money for the White House complex and President Donald Trump’s ballroom amid backlash from members of their own party.

As the standoff continued, Senate GOP leaders said they would return to the immigration enforcement measure after the Memorial Day recess the week of June 1, with Thune telling reporters, “We will pick up where we left off.”