Senate Republicans delayed a vote Thursday on a major immigration enforcement funding push, stalled not by Democrats but by their own doubts over a Trump administration plan tucked inside it. After a closed-door briefing with Justice Department officials, GOP senators balked at advancing a reconciliation bill that would steer nearly $1.8 billion in taxpayer money to the DOJ's "Anti-Weaponization Fund," NBC News reports. The senators said they were working on adding guardrails to the fund. GOP Sen. Katie Britt said she didn't want people who assaulted police officers during the Capitol riot to get payouts, reports the Hill.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said the talks focused on "how we might make sure that it's fenced in appropriately." Britt and other GOP senators said votes are not expected on the package anytime soon. "I think the administration is putting itself in a bad spot," Sen. Bill Cassidy, a critic of the fund, said after the briefing with Assistant Attorney General Todd Blanche and other officials. The delay shelves, until at least June, a package that would send roughly $70 billion to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol—money left out of this year's bipartisan spending deal.
With lawmakers leaving town for the Memorial Day recess, President Trump's June 1 target date for the border package is almost certain to be missed, NBC reports. Senators are also wrestling with a separate $1 billion request tied to security for Trump's White House ballroom. Republican senators said Wednesday that the "votes aren't there" to include it in the bill. Asked Thursday if he was losing control of the Senate, Trump said, "I don't know, I really don't know. I can tell you—I only do what's right," the AP reports.
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