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Senate GOP Delays $72B Immigration Vote Amid Trump’s $1.8B Anti-Weapon Fund Rift

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Senate Republicans delayed a planned vote on a roughly $72 billion immigration enforcement bill Thursday after a backlash over President Donald Trump’s newly created $1.8 billion “Anti‑Weaponization Fund” splintered the party and stalled the GOP’s top domestic priority. cbsnews +1 The vote is now on hold at least until after the Memorial Day recess, injecting new uncertainty into funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Border Patrol. cbsnews +1

The Justice Department fund, created this week as part of a settlement in Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS, is designed to pay people who claim they were victims of a “weaponized” government. The program, financed through the federal Judgment Fund and overseen by a five‑member commission appointed largely by the attorney general, is capped at $1.776 billion and will stop processing claims on Dec. 1, 2028. thehill +1 Its size, structure and potential eligibility of January 6 rioters triggered a rare public revolt inside the Republican Party.

Why Trump’s $1.8 Billion Payout Fund Sparked a GOP Revolt

At a closed‑door lunch Thursday, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche faced pointed questions from Senate Republicans about who could receive money, what guardrails exist, and whether people convicted in the January 6 attack on the Capitol might qualify. Several senators said his answers were insufficient, prompting leadership to pull the ICE vote rather than force members to choose between the president and their own concerns. cbsnews +1

Critics in the GOP derided the fund as a “slush fund” with scant congressional oversight and limited judicial review, noting that awards would be decided by a commission whose members are effectively chosen by the administration and could be removed by the president. thehill +1 Senate Majority Leader John Thune said the immigration bill “got a little bit more complicated this week” and acknowledged “a lot of members who are concerned,” while Sen. Thom Tillis labeled the fund “stupid on stilts.” theglobeandmail +1 Democrats, who already opposed the ICE package, seized on the infighting, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer saying Republicans were in “complete meltdown.” cbsnews

Legal Challenges and the High‑Stakes Immigration Funding Fight

The controversy immediately spilled into the courts and the House. Two Capitol Police officers who defended the building on January 6 filed suit to block the program, calling it an illegal, taxpayer‑funded payoff to insurrectionists and paramilitary groups. thehill Legal scholars questioned using the Judgment Fund to launch what they described as an unprecedented, politically charged compensation scheme shielded from normal court oversight. thehill +1 The Justice Department, by contrast, argued the structure is modeled on prior settlements, such as the Obama‑era Keepseagle case for Native American farmers, and insisted it is “unusual” but not without precedent. thehill

On Capitol Hill, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, a Pennsylvania Republican, joined Democrats in introducing legislation to bar federal dollars from paying any claims from the fund, signaling a potential bipartisan front against Trump’s settlement even as his party controls Congress. cbsnews +1 The Senate parliamentarian had already stripped a separate $1 billion request for a White House ballroom and security upgrade from the reconciliation bill as violating budget rules, further narrowing the ICE package. theglobeandmail +1 With the immigration vote now pushed into June, GOP leaders must navigate internal resistance to both the fund and Trump’s spending priorities, even as the administration warns of consequences for border enforcement if money is delayed. theglobeandmail +1

The Bigger Picture

The clash over the “Anti‑Weaponization Fund” exposed an unusually public rift between Trump and Senate Republicans, turning what was meant to be a party‑line immigration victory into a test of how far lawmakers are willing to go to challenge a president of their own party. Whether through legislation to defund the program, court rulings on its legality, or new conditions tied to the ICE bill, the fight will shape not only the future of immigration enforcement funding but also the boundaries of presidential power to use settlement dollars for politically fraught purposes. cbsnews +2