Republicans mull next steps after $1.8 billion fund for Trump allies ends

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans were weighing Tuesday whether the Trump administration’s elimination of a $1.8 billion fund intended to compensate the president’s allies had eased their concerns enough to move forward with a vote this week on separate legislation funding immigration enforcement.

Democrats welcomed the opportunity to formally tell Republican senators about the settlement fund for those who claim to have been politically prosecuted. They promised dozens of votes on this issue during the consideration of the immigration bill.

“Democrats will not settle for half-measures,” said Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York. “We are going to kill the slush fund for good and we are going to bury it and bury it deep.”

Republican senators also revolted against the settlement fund before leaving for the Memorial Day holiday two weeks ago. They returned to Washington this week saying they wanted more information from the administration about the future of the fund, which could potentially go to Trump supporters who beat police and attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

The Justice Department said Monday it would comply with a court order suspending implementation of the fund. And then Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in testimony Tuesday that this measure was completely scrapped.

“We are not moving forward with the fund, period,” Blanche said.

Immigration bill caught in settlement tumult

In the middle is legislation that would fund Trump’s immigration enforcement agencies for three years. Republicans abruptly left town on May 21 without passing it after Democrats said they would propose amendments to eliminate the fund or reduce it, forcing Republicans to speak publicly for or against it and putting money intended for Immigration, Customs and Border Patrol at risk.

Back in Washington Monday evening, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he was unsure whether the immigration spending bill would advance this week. “To be determined,” he told reporters.

He offered a little more clarity after Blanche’s assurances.

“It’s still a work in progress,” he told reporters.

Republican senators who left a lunch meeting Tuesday also said it was still unclear whether the bill would move.

“We’ll just have to wait and see,” Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., told reporters. If senators are satisfied with Blanche’s testimony, “we will probably move quickly,” he said.

Deadlock comes after surprise announcement

The extraordinary standoff comes after Trump announced the fund without informing lawmakers as part of a settlement aimed at resolving his lawsuit against the IRS over the leak of his tax returns. When news of the deal broke, the Senate was already facing the delicate passage of immigration legislation, with an additional $1 billion in security costs at the White House — including for Trump’s ballroom project.

Furious, Senate Republicans left money for White House security out of the bill and made clear they would not pass the law unless the White House made major changes to the regulations.

“I think the best way to handle this is for the administration to decide to close it themselves,” Thune told reporters Monday, referring to the fund.

The Justice Department said it would comply with a ruling Friday by U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema, who temporarily suspended the fund for two weeks. The judge scheduled a hearing for June 12 to discuss arguments on whether to extend his order.

Republicans issue rare ultimatum to DOJ

Outrage over the fund came to a head last month during a closed-door meeting between senators and Blanche, which Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas described in a recent episode of his podcast as “one of the most difficult meetings I’ve seen in my entire tenure in the Senate.”

Republican senators have discussed several ways to shrink the fund, including limiting who can receive payments, changing the makeup of the commission that makes settlement decisions, adding some sort of judicial review for applicants or eliminating the fund altogether.

Also complicating matters are Trump’s efforts during his election campaign to defeat Republican lawmakers he views as disloyal, including some of Thune’s most reliable Republican votes in the narrow Senate (53-47).

Senators Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and John Cornyn of Texas both lost their re-election bids in May after Trump supported their primary opponents, and it is unclear to what extent they will support the president’s agenda in the future.

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Associated Press writers Joey Cappelletti and Eric Tucker contributed to this report.

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