by Ben Whedon
Some Senate Republicans are wary of approving a funding package for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol without written assurances that the Department of Justice won’t move forward with its “anti-weaponization fund,” risking passage of a key legislative item for the administration.
The DOJ announced the $1.776 billion fund as part of a settlement to end President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS over the leak of his tax returns by contractor Charles Littlejohn, who pleaded guilty. Bipartisan pushback and legal setbacks prompted acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to confirm that the agency would not move forward with the plan.
But his word isn’t good enough for some Senate Republicans, including the outgoing Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., who told Punchbowl News that “[i]f we’ve got the acting AG saying it’s done, then let’s just stick a fork in it.”
“We need to take action here. It’s creating headwinds that we don’t need,” he also said.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said at a congressional hearing this week that the Trump administration is “moving forward” with the fund, PBS reported. This is a change of tone from Blanche when the fund was first announced in May. Then, he said, “The machinery of government should never be weaponized against any American, and it is this Department’s intention to make right the wrongs that were previously done while ensuring this never happens again.”
Several Republicans, including former GOP Leader Mitch McConnell, have criticized the fund over fears it could reward Trump allies.
“So the nation’s top law enforcement official is asking for a slush fund to pay people who assault cops? Utterly stupid, morally wrong – Take your pick,” McConnell said, according to ABC7.
The Senate plans to vote on a series of amendments to the funding package on Thursday, with GOP leaders hoping to shut them all down and swiftly pass the funding package.
The reconciliation bill does not require Democratic support and comes in the wake of a record-breaking shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security that saw Democrats object to immigration enforcement funding.
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Ben Whedon is a reporter for Just the News. Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network and contributed to this story.
