Senate Republicans erupted in anger during a closed-door meeting with acting Attorney General Todd Blanche on Thursday, with tensions so high that Senator Ted Cruz called it "one of the roughest meetings I've seen in my entire time in the Senate."
The heated confrontation centered on the Trump administration's $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund, which has sparked fierce resistance from Republicans who view it as politically indefensible. Cruz described the scene on his podcast "Verdict with Ted Cruz," saying at least half of the roughly 45 senators present were "blasting the attorney general" and openly hostile.
"There were multiple senators yelling at the attorney general, saying this feels like self-dealing," Cruz reported. The core complaint from GOP colleagues was straightforward: the fund appeared to result from President Trump cutting a deal with himself. The administration announced the initiative Monday after Trump agreed to drop a $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS, along with other claims tied to the 2016 Russian collusion investigation and the 2022 Mar-a-Lago search.
The Justice Department framed the fund as compensation for people who suffered what it called "weaponization and lawfare," given in exchange for Trump withdrawing his litigation claims. The fund's vague parameters have alarmed Republicans and Democrats alike. Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina bluntly called it a "payout pot for punks," particularly incensed that the administration had not ruled out compensating people convicted in the January 6 Capitol riot.
The conflict derailed votes Thursday on a GOP bill to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol. Cruz warned that if the Senate had proceeded as planned, roughly half the Republican caucus would have broken ranks and voted with Democrats to impose restrictions on the fund. He described it as "the degree of the jailbreak of Republicans who were bolting."
"If they don't modify this fund by the time Congress returns, they've got a full-on revolt in the Senate," Cruz said. The chamber reconvenes June 1, the same date Trump said he wanted to sign the ICE and Border Patrol legislation into law.
Other Republicans are deepening the pressure. Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana stated flatly, "I think the administration is putting itself in a bad spot" and complained that "Congress has had no input." Meanwhile, bipartisan legislation introduced by Representatives Tom Suozzi of New York and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania seeks to block federal spending on the fund entirely.
Democrats have been equally scathing. Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois wrote to Blanche calling the notion of compensating rioters "absurd and offensive."
Neither the Justice Department nor the White House responded to requests for comment on the GOP fury or their plans to address the escalating rebellion.
Author Sarah Mitchell: "The administration may have found a creative legal workaround to settle Trump's grievances, but it has accidentally handed Republicans a legitimate reason to mutiny."
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