A meeting between Republican senators and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche went off the rails, dooming President Donald Trump's "Anti-Weaponization Fund" after lawmakers canceled their plans to vote on funding for immigration enforcement and the White House ballroom construction.
The Justice Department said Monday it was creating the fund as part of a deal in which Trump agreed to drop his $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS. But despite a press release, memo, and a newly-released settlement agreement, many details about the program remain unclear.
The agreement states that within 30 days, the so-called “Anti-Weaponization Fund” will establish its own funding structure, rules, conditions, and claim requirements. The DOJ has so far provided few specifics about who qualifies, how applications will be reviewed, or how officials arrived at the fund’s $1.776 billion price tag, besides it being a reference to the nation's founding in 1776.
The department suggested the money is intended for people allegedly targeted because of their political beliefs, and the fund is widely expected to include January 6 insurrectionists among potential recipients. Blanche previously told lawmakers that “anybody could apply,” with decisions left to a panel of commissioners that he will help appoint.
The agreement also says time spent in prison or federal custody because of alleged “lawfare and weaponization” from “any source” could factor into compensation decisions.
But Republicans were nonetheless concerned about this fund and Blanche's trip to Capitol Hill on Thursday proved fruitless, with senators reportedly emerging from the meeting frustrated and largely unwilling to speak publicly.
Lawmakers later scrapped plans for a vote and instead began their Memorial Day recess early, a move that could make it even harder for Republicans to pass party-line legislation in the weeks ahead, particularly as Trump continues to clash with incumbent senators and with the midterms on the horizon.
North Carolina Republican Senator Ted Budd told reporters:
“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. I'm done."
But a spokesperson for the Justice Department downplayed concerns, saying Blanche's meeting was “a healthy discussion” and said the anti-weaponization fund is an entirely separate matter from the Senate’s “budget reconciliation” process:
“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.”
But no one's buying that—especially now that the GOP has opted to go home and scuttle a top Trump priority.
Per Alaska Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski, 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," underscoring how much the slush fund upended negotiations on immigration enforcement and the ballroom.
One proposal Republicans reportedly discussed to limit the settlement fund would have barred January 6 defendants convicted of assaulting police officers from receiving payouts.
But the GOP is advancing the legislation through a special budget reconciliation process, which allows Republicans to bypass Democratic support while still giving Democrats the opportunity to challenge provisions they argue are unrelated to budget matters.
The lack of progress in the Senate was already frustrating House Republicans as Memorial Day weekend approached and lawmakers began leaving Washington. On Wednesday, 10 House Republicans missed the chamber’s final vote of the day, a number that doubled the amount of absent Democrats.
