GOP senators scrap Trump budget vote May 21

Senate Republicans pulled a planned May 21 vote on a $72 billion immigration funding package after a closed-door meeting with Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche exposed resistance to a new Justice Department compensation fund tied to President Donald Trump. The dispute centered on the administration’s $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund,” created as part of a settlement of Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service. Republican senators left the meeting saying they were not ready to move ahead, and Senate leaders sent lawmakers home for the Memorial Day recess without taking up the bill. NBC News, Roll Call, Politico and other outlets reported the delay, while the Justice Department had announced the fund earlier in the week. ### Which vote was actually scrapped on May 21? The Senate’s planned vote was on a Republican package to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol, not on a stand-alone budget blueprint. NBC News reported the package was worth $72 billion and that GOP leaders postponed the vote until June after objections to the fund surfaced. The New York Daily News likewise reported that Senate Majority Leader John Thune adjourned the chamber until early June without trying to pass the bill. (nbcnews.com) May 21 became the breaking point because senators had expected to move the package before the Memorial Day recess. Instead, the fund fight and other spending objections, including White House security funding tied to Trump’s ballroom project, disrupted the schedule. ABC News reported Republicans were considering restrictions on both items before the updated bill text was released. (nbcnews.com) ### Why did Todd Blanche come to the Capitol? Todd Blanche met Senate Republicans on May 21 to defend the Justice Department’s new compensation fund and answer questions about how it would operate. Politico described the session as contentious, and NBC News said Republican leaders punted the vote after senators objected to the fund. PBS reported Blanche made an unplanned trip to personally argue for the proposal hours before the scheduled vote. (abcnews.com) The Justice Department said on May 18 that the fund was created as part of the settlement in President Donald J. Trump v. Internal Revenue Service. The department said the program would provide a process to hear claims from people who said they suffered “weaponization and lawfare.” CNBC reported Trump dropped his $10 billion IRS lawsuit in exchange for the creation of the fund and that Trump himself would not receive money directly under the settlement. (politico.com) ### What were Republican senators objecting to? Republican senators were pressing for guardrails on who could receive money and how the fund would be administered. ABC News reported lawmakers were looking for ways to impose restrictions, while PBS published a Justice Department memo issued to answer questions about who would benefit and whether Trump might influence the process. (justice.gov) Roll Call quoted Senator Roger Marshall after the Blanche meeting saying, “The Senate wants to measure twice and cut once, and we’re not quite ready to cut yet.” USA Today described Senate Republicans as emerging “stone-faced” from the meeting, and WBUR reported lawmakers were frustrated that the fund could reach people who claimed they were persecuted by the government, including possible Jan. 6 rioters. (abcnews.com) ### How did Democrats try to use the delay? Chuck Schumer used the May 21 floor debate to say Democrats would target the fund if Republicans forced votes. Roll Call reported Schumer said his first vote-a-rama amendment would block the Justice Department fund. Media coverage also pointed to House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries and Schumer presenting a united message around oversight and the administration’s handling of Justice Department negotiations. (rollcall.com) Morning Wire, in a May 22 episode description, framed the episode as “Republican Senators split with President Trump over his ‘Anti-Weaponization’ fund.” That description matched the broader reporting from congressional outlets that the immediate problem was a Republican split, not Democratic procedural leverage alone. ### What happens after the recess? The next step is a revised Senate package after Memorial Day, with Republican leaders deciding whether to narrow or rewrite the fund provisions before bringing the bill back. (rollcall.com) NBC News and Roll Call both reported that floor action was delayed until June. Any renewed vote will run through Senate leadership, with Thune managing the schedule and Blanche likely remaining involved if senators continue seeking limits on the Justice Department fund. (dailywire.com) (nbcnews.com)