Senate Republicans narrowly defeated a Democratic push to permanently bar President Trump from tapping a proposed $1.8 billion fund for allies, but the close vote exposed deepening fissures within the GOP over the controversial proposal.
The amendment, offered by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Thursday, would have inserted language into a $70 billion immigration enforcement bill blocking payouts from what the administration calls an "anti-weaponization" fund. The measure failed 49-50 after a three-hour vote during which groups of senators huddled on the chamber floor in negotiations.
Three Republicans broke ranks to join all Democrats in support: Susan Collins of Maine, Dan Sullivan of Alaska, and Jon Husted of Ohio. All three face steep reelection fights this fall, with recent polling showing Husted trailing Democratic challenger Sherrod Brown by eight points.
The fund would reportedly issue financial settlements to people connected to the January 6 insurrection. The Trump administration signaled this week through acting Attorney General Todd Blanche that it would not pursue the payments, but Schumer dismissed that assurance as inadequate given Trump's stated enthusiasm for the project just a day earlier.
"Do any of us believe that Donald Trump, who has lied to us day in and day out, will be able to resist getting his sticky fingers in the slush fund when it would benefit himself and his family?" Schumer asked, characterizing the promised restraint as unreliable without a legislative prohibition.
The battle over the fund became entangled with a larger Republican effort to pass the immigration bill through budget reconciliation, a procedural maneuver that sidesteps Democratic filibuster power. The $70 billion measure would fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection through 2029. Republicans have sought to move it without Democratic votes as part of Trump's deportation agenda.
Democrats had stalled funding for those agencies since January, when they demanded border reforms in exchange for appropriations. That standoff triggered a 75-day partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security before the parties reached a temporary funding agreement.
Following Schumer's defeat, Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina proposed an alternative amendment that would strip the anti-weaponization fund but redirect the money toward Justice Department efforts combating fraud. "This bill is unpopular. This administration has said they're not moving forward with it," Tillis said, framing his approach as a compromise.
Democrats rejected that gambit, with Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley arguing that replacing one improper fund with another under attorney general control fell short. "Taking one slush fund and eliminating it and creating a new slush fund still under the control of the attorney general is not the way to go," he said. Tillis's amendment drew support from only 11 Republicans and three Democrats before failing.
The episode underscores how Trump's proposed settlement fund has fractured Republican unity on spending measures. While party leadership pushed the bill forward, the close vote and defections signaled that GOP concerns about the fund extend beyond the three senators who openly opposed it.
Author James Rodriguez: "This wasn't just a procedural hiccup. The fact that three vulnerable Republicans felt compelled to side with Schumer suggests the anti-weaponization fund is politically toxic enough to crack the GOP's usually reliable reconciliation discipline."
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