Republicans cancel votes over fight against Trump’s ‘anti-arms’ fund

WASHINGTON — Objections to the Trump administration’s controversial arms control fund prompted Senate Republican leaders Thursday to vote on a Republican package to fund ICE and the Border Patrol through June, two Republican sources familiar with the discussions told NBC News.

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Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., aimed to pass the reconciliation package through the Senate and House before the Memorial Day holiday. But Republican senators emerged from a closed-door briefing with senior Justice Department officials about the arms fund with more questions than answers, and it became clear that Republicans did not have a consensus moving forward.

Administration officials “need to help on this issue, because many members are concerned, obviously, about the timing, but also the substance,” Thune told reporters after the votes were rolled back.

Asked by NBC News to what extent the arms fund played a role in delaying the reconciliation vote, Thune replied: “Well, it’s a big deal. »

The Justice Department said it plans to devote $1.776 billion of taxpayer money to the fund. Given Democratic opposition, the only method to pass this bill through Congress would be to add it to the immigration “reconciliation” package, which can only be passed with Republican votes.

“I think the administration is putting itself in a bad position,” Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., said after the private briefing.

Thursday’s briefing with Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and others lasted more than an hour and a half, and Republicans remained tight-lipped and appeared frustrated, saying they were working on how they could put guardrails on the anti-arms fund.

To assuage GOP concerns, DOJ officials circulated a one-page fact sheet on the arms fund, explaining where the money would come from, who would oversee disbursements, and who was eligible. The DOJ said that as part of Trump’s legal settlement with the agency, the president, his sons and the Trump Organization would receive an apology but no monetary payment; nor can they receive payments from the fund.

“It’s about holding accountable all Americans who have been victims of legal warfare and militarization: millions of Americans whose online speech was censored at the behest of the government, parents silenced on school boards, senators whose records were secretly subpoenaed, churchgoers targeted by the FBI, and so on,” the fact sheet says.

“There are no partisan restrictions: Democrats can also submit claims,” according to the DOJ.

The Republican-only reconciliation bill would provide about $70 billion in funds for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Border Patrol, two agencies that were left out of the government’s bipartisan funding package earlier this year as Democrats called for curbs on Trump’s aggressive enforcement tactics.

Another obstacle in Republicans’ efforts to pass the bill: $1 billion in funding requested by President Donald Trump for security measures related to his White House ballroom. He encountered significant Republican resistance.

GOP leaders in the House were waiting for the Senate to send over the funding plan. But as the Senate heads for the exit, the House is now following suit and overturning Friday’s votes. Congress plans to take off next week for the Memorial Day holiday and return to Washington the first week of June.

Trump said he wants Congress to send him the funding plan for ICE and Border Patrol by June 1. But with lawmakers leaving the city, it’s clear they will now miss that deadline.

“It’s going to be important to get this thing actually accomplished and across the finish line,” Thune said, noting that Congress has yet to renew its foreign espionage program.

“It was something that was supposed to be very narrow, focused, targeted, clean and direct,” he said of the immigration funding program, “and it got a little more complicated this week.”

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