Senate Republicans delay vote on $72 billion ICE funding package amid dispute over Trump’s anti-gun fund | Today’s news

Senate Republican leaders on Thursday (local time) delayed a vote on a GOP plan to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the US Border Patrol until June after objections to an “anti-gun” fund from President Donald Trump’s administration.

Trump administration’s “anti-gun” fund.

The $1.776 billion fund was created as part of a settlement in exchange for Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), which he controls. According to CBS News, pro-Trump allies, including those accused of involvement in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, said they were eager to come forward with claims.

Read also | The US government may create a $1.7 billion fund in exchange for Trump dropping the IRS lawsuit

Democrats criticized the arrangement as blatantly corrupt, arguing that Congress would have little meaningful oversight of how funds are distributed or who receives payments. Several Republican senators also expressed concern and said they would seek to add controls on how the money is used in the reconciliation package. Democrats also pledged to introduce amendments targeting the fund.

Republican Party Divided on Anti-Gun Fund

NBC News, citing two Republican sources, said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R.S.D., hoped to push the reconciliation package through the Senate and send it to the House before the Memorial Day recess. But GOP senators left a closed-door briefing with senior Department of Justice (DOJ) officials on the “armament” fund with more questions than answers, and it was clear there was no Republican consensus moving forward.

The Senate was reportedly set to debate a version of the $72 billion reconciliation bill on Thursday, and the House was expected to do the same on Friday. But the plans fell apart after a meeting between GOP senators and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanch, who was sent to the Hill to convince skeptical members of the DOJ fund.

Read also | Trump has decided to drop a $10 billion IRS lawsuit related to leaked tax records

What happened at the closed-door briefing?

Blanche met with the senators for over two hours; however, some walked out of the meeting without comment, indicating that their concerns had not been addressed. In an interview with CBS News, GOP Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, the top appropriator in the Senate who has voiced opposition to the DOJ fund, said she did not feel better about the fund after the meeting.

However, a Justice Department spokesman said in a statement that the meeting included “a healthy discussion about the settlement.” The spokesman added: “(Blanche) made it clear that the anti-gun fund he announced on Monday has nothing to do with reconciliation; in fact, not one dime of the money the president is seeking in reconciliation would go towards anything to do with the fund.”

Shortly after the meeting ended, Republican senators said the Senate would adjourn after Thursday’s session without dealing with the reconciliation package. House speakers then scrapped plans to stay in Washington after today’s votes, and a planned meeting between Speaker Mike Johnson and the president was also called off, according to the report.

Read also | Senate blocks Democrats’ Iran war resolution, some Republicans split with Trump

Is the reconciliation bill delayed even more?

Recent developments make it almost certain that GOP lawmakers will miss Trump’s June 1 deadline for a reconciliation bill to reach his desk. The reconciliation bill grew out of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown earlier this year and aims to fund ICE and the Border Patrol for three years.

With Democrats opposed to funding, Republicans pushed the bill through the reconciliation process, which does not require Democratic votes in the Senate.

The reconciliation bill suffered some setbacks earlier in the week over the inclusion of $1 billion in Secret Service security funding, including money tied to the president’s planned overhaul of the East Wing, which includes building a grand ballroom. A Senate lawmaker ruled that the funding violated reconciliation rules about what can be included in such legislation, and skeptical Republicans expected it to be removed in a revised version of the bill. This updated version has not been released yet.

Read also | East Wing Renovation: How the White House Justifies Demand for $1 Billion in Funding

The delayed vote highlights deep Republican divisions over the reconciliation package and the Justice Department’s “anti-gun” fund.

Key things

• The GOP faces significant internal conflict over the funding proposal.
• Democrats actively oppose the DOJ fund, criticizing it for a lack of oversight.
• The delay could result in missing the deadline set by Trump for the reconciliation bill.