Senate Republicans left Washington without final action on a package aimed at boosting funding for U.S. immigration enforcement agencies ahead of a June 1 target date tied to President Donald Trump’s request. The delay comes amid internal GOP resistance and Democratic criticism of a new roughly $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” announced by the Justice Department as part of a settlement involving Trump’s lawsuit over leaked tax information.
The Senate recessed without completing work on legislation Republicans have been assembling to provide additional resources for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection. Republican senators have acknowledged they are not on track to meet the June 1 timeline the White House has pressed for.
A major flashpoint is the Justice Department’s announcement of a $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund,” a program the administration says would allow people who believe they were unfairly targeted by politically motivated investigations to seek compensation. The fund was described by the Justice Department as part of a settlement connected to Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the disclosure of his tax-return information.
The proposal has drawn condemnation from Democrats and some government watchdogs, and it has also triggered resistance among some Republican senators, contributing to the slowdown in the Senate’s immigration-enforcement funding effort.
Democrats have argued that any compensation program should explicitly bar payments to people convicted of crimes tied to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, in Senate testimony cited by multiple outlets, has said he could not guarantee that people involved in Jan. 6 cases would be excluded under the program as announced. Separate lawsuits filed by Trump critics and by officers who defended the Capitol have sought to block the fund, warning that it could result in payouts to individuals involved in the riot.
