{"id":133,"date":"2026-06-02T10:41:27","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T10:41:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=133"},"modified":"2026-06-02T10:41:27","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T10:41:27","slug":"trump-backs-off-anti-weaponization-fund-after-gop-backlash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=133","title":{"rendered":"Trump backs off \u2018anti-weaponization\u2019 fund after GOP backlash"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The Trump administration prepared to abandon its $1.8 billion \u201canti-weaponization fund\u201d Monday after intense pushback from GOP lawmakers, potentially removing the biggest obstacle to a reconciliation bill for immigration enforcement.<\/p>\n

Read more At the Races: Going for the Golden State<\/a><\/p>\n

The administration will comply with a Friday order from a federal judge that temporarily blocked the fund, though it \u201cdisagrees strongly\u201d with the ruling, the Justice Department said Monday in a post on the social platform X.\u00a0The White House declined to provide additional comment on the statement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But Republican senators appeared divided Monday night on whether the Justice Department statement goes far enough to address their concerns over the future of the fund\u00a0\u2014 and whether they could vote for a reconciliation bill that lacked new restrictions over a fund that took lawmakers by surprise when it was announced late last month.<\/p>\n

In an effort to shore up GOP support for the reconciliation package, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said he was preparing to strip nearly $1.5 billion in Justice Department funding for terrorism prosecutions, drug enforcement and other matters that had been part of the bill designed mostly for immigration enforcement.<\/p>\n

Thune said he would discuss the state of the bill with his conference at their Tuesday policy lunch, while acknowledging that many members were seeking greater clarity on the administration\u2019s intentions.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the statement they made effectively shuts it down,\u201d Thune said of the Justice Department fund. \u201cWe\u2019ll find out.\u201d \u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema, in the Eastern District of Virginia, blocked the formation of the fund, as well as any payouts, until a June 12 hearing where she will hear arguments on extending the order. \u201cThe Department will abide by the Court\u2019s ruling,\u201d the Justice Department said.<\/p>\n

The fund was aimed at those deemed \u201cvictims of lawfare and weaponization\u201d by previous administrations, according to Justice Department talking points circulated to lawmakers last month. But lawmakers of both parties had expressed concern that people convicted of attacking law enforcement officers, particularly in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, could be eligible for compensation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The backlash was significant enough that senators left town for their Memorial Day recess after a testy meeting with acting Attorney General Todd Blanche without voting on the nearly $72 billion budget reconciliation package\u00a0\u2014\u00a0a sharp rebuke to the White House and a hard pivot from the beginning of that week, when the bill seemed poised to sail through both the House and the Senate.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But it wasn\u2019t yet clear whether the White House\u2019s move would be enough to fully assuage Republican concerns. Senate GOP leadership punted on the reconciliation package ahead of the recess in part because there was interest from within the conference to back potential amendments from Democrats to impose guardrails on the fund.<\/p>\n

Republicans divided<\/h2>\n

Some Republicans who were sounding the alarm about the fund saw the Justice Department\u2019s statement as a step in the right direction.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins of Maine said she was \u201cpleased to see that the president appears to be no longer pursuing\u201d the creation of the fund.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, who recently lost his Senate primary to a Trump-backed challenger, said the Justice Department\u2019s statement \u201csounds pretty permanent to me\u201d and that further efforts to impose guardrails would be a \u201cmoot point.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more Heading for retirement, Pelosi still lends political heft to fellow Dems<\/a><\/p>\n

But Senate Judiciary Chairman Charles E. Grassley of Iowa said he still wanted to see more clarity from the White House. \u201cThe only thing that\u2019s going to solve this problem, to get immigration funded and law enforced, is for the president to do away with the weaponization fund,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who also lost his Senate primary to a Trump-backed challenger, told reporters he needs to be \u201cconvinced\u201d by the administration that the fund isn\u2019t moving forward, and he hasn\u2019t ruled out voting for legislation to block the fund that is likely to be offered by Democrats.<\/p>\n

And Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., also stressed the importance of more clear communication from the White House, especially given the proposed fund\u2019s impact on the budget reconciliation package.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe shouldn\u2019t play games here. If the administration has changed its position on the weaponization fund, it should say so definitively,\u201d Kennedy said. \u201cSaying you\u2019re going to follow a court order doesn\u2019t tell me anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Republicans had already signaled they were prepared to drop from the bill another troublesome provision: $1 billion for Secret Service security upgrades, partly linked to the planned White House ballroom. But the Justice Department fund had presented a greater problem, with many Republicans leery of Democratic attacks on a \u201cslush fund\u201d designed to reward Trump allies.<\/p>\n

Amendments fight<\/h2>\n

The apparent about-face on the Justice Department fund\u00a0could further clear a path for passage of the filibuster-proof reconciliation package, should Senate Republicans feel their concerns have been addressed. However, Democrats were already preparing to offer amendments to prohibit the fund during the required \u201cvote-a-rama,\u201d during which senators can offer unlimited amendments to a budget reconciliation package. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Thune said he expects the impact of any amendment proposals to be blunted by a commitment from the administration to kill the fund. And by moving to strip Justice Department funding from the bill, Thune could make it easier to defeat Democratic amendments on the \u201canti-weaponization\u201d fund on procedural grounds, by arguing they would no longer be germane to the bill.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., said on social media Monday that Democrats also plan to push a separate bill aimed at banning such a fund, because \u201cTrump\u2019s word is nowhere near enough.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Trump and Republicans are truly abandoning this corrupt scheme, they should have zero problem banning it in law,\u201d Schumer wrote.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Thune told reporters he wasn\u2019t sure whether there was an appetite within his conference for further legislative efforts outside of budget reconciliation to restrict or prevent such a fund.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I do think that the best way to handle it is if the administration decides to shut it down themselves,\u201d he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more Alabama groups urge Supreme Court to halt congressional map<\/a><\/p>\n

\u200b<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Trump administration prepared to abandon its $1.8 billion \u201canti-weaponization fund\u201d Monday after intense pushback from GOP lawmakers, potentially removing the biggest obstacle to a reconciliation bill for immigration enforcement. 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