(AFP) – President Donald Trump’s agenda faced a series of tests in the US Senate on Thursday, as lawmakers began a marathon amendment process on a $70 billion immigration enforcement bill after weeks of Republican anxiety over some of his most contentious policy moves. The legislation would fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Border Patrol, and other agencies through fiscal 2029, handing Trump a major victory on one of his signature issues if it passes.
But before final passage, senators were set to plow through an hours-long series of amendment votes known as a “vote-a-rama” — a chaotic process allowing lawmakers to force the opposite party to go on the record on politically sensitive issues. For Trump, that means renewed scrutiny of controversies that have already unsettled his party’s lawmakers: a proposed “anti-weaponization” fund for allies who claim they were unfairly targeted by the government and a deal limiting scrutiny of the president’s taxes.
Funding that had been earmarked for security around his planned White House ballroom — a hugely contentious demand for $1 billion — was dropped from the text ahead of the floor debates. The anti-weaponization fund and ballroom have become symbols of a broader unease among Republicans about defending the president’s priorities at a time when voters remain focused on the cost of living.
And the pushback from his own side has demonstrated that Trump’s agenda can still run into resistance from lawmakers wary of carrying his political baggage into November’s crucial midterm elections. The Senate voted 53-46 on Wednesday to open debate on the immigration bill, using a fast-track budget procedure that allows Republicans to pass it without Democratic support if they can keep their own members together. Republican leaders say they are confident the bill can pass, but Trump’s allies have made the path more difficult.
– ‘Slush fund’ – The measure was delayed for weeks after senators rebelled over the Justice Department’s proposed $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” compensation package, which critics attacked as a “slush fund” that could allow people convicted over the 2021 attack on the US Capitol to receive taxpayer money. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told lawmakers this week that the administration would not move forward with the fund. But Trump has continued to praise it, calling it “beautiful” and saying he would have to “ask the lawyers” whether it was dead or merely paused. That ambiguity has left several Republicans pushing to put the promise into law.
North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis, who is not seeking reelection after Trump backed a primary challenger against him, said he wanted to eliminate the fund because it would be impossible to defend to voters. “When you’re explaining, you’re losing. There’s no way to explain the $1.776 (billion) fund. So the only way you can explain it is explain that you got rid of it,” Tillis told reporters.
Democrats also planned to force votes targeting the fund, hoping to make Republicans choose between shielding Trump and protecting vulnerable lawmakers from election-year attacks. Other amendments are expected to target a separate provision in Trump’s settlement with the Internal Revenue Service that would shield the president, his family, and his businesses from audits of past tax returns. Democrats planned amendments redirecting immigration enforcement money toward health care, child care, and other affordability concerns.
The immigration bill is still expected to pass if Republican leaders hold their conference together. If it does, the House could take it up on Friday, although Punchbowl News reported that there were discussions about the lower chamber voting overnight, soon after the Senate.
– Frankie TAGGART
© 2024 AFP
