Washington (United States) (AFP) – US senators failed to agree on legislation Friday blocking President Donald Trump’s proposed $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund, leaving the controversial payout plan in legal and political limbo despite assurances from the Justice Department that it will not move forward. The fund, denounced by critics as a “slush fund” for Trump allies, has become one of the most politically toxic issues facing Republicans in Congress, amid fears that people convicted over the 2021 attack on the US Capitol could seek taxpayer-funded compensation.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told lawmakers this week that the administration was “not moving forward” with the fund. But Trump has continued to praise the idea, calling it “beautiful” and saying he would have to “ask the lawyers” whether it was dead or merely paused. That uncertainty prompted multiple attempts to formally kill or restrict the fund during a marathon series of Senate amendment votes attached to a $70 billion immigration enforcement bill, which passed early Friday. All failed.
The most direct effort came from Republican Senator Bill Cassidy, whose amendment would have repurposed the fund to compensate law enforcement officers wounded while defending the Capitol from pro-Trump rioters trying to halt certification of his 2020 election defeat. Six Republicans joined Democrats in supporting the measure — which arose from a settlement between Trump and his government in a dispute over a leak of his tax filings — but it failed to reach the 60-vote threshold needed to overcome a procedural objection.
“Even though Attorney General Blanche says that the anti-weaponization fund will not be used, it is still part of an active settlement and absolutely can be used,” Cassidy said before the vote, according to politics news outlet The Hill. An earlier Democratic effort to send the immigration bill back to committee with instructions to eliminate the fund also failed, though three Republicans joined Democrats in support. Another Republican amendment from Senator Thom Tillis to redirect the money toward fraud enforcement was defeated as well, with Democrats concluding that it would just become the “slush fund” by another name.
The fight unfolded as Republicans pushed through Trump’s immigration enforcement package, which funds Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol through the rest of his term. Republican leaders were eager to avoid adding provisions that could complicate passage of the underlying bill, arguing that the fund was not part of the legislation itself. But the failed votes mean Congress has not imposed a statutory ban on the administration reviving the fund, even after weeks of Republican discomfort and Democratic attacks. The House is expected to take up the immigration bill next week, where some Republican moderates are still pushing for language explicitly barring the Justice Department from administering any payout program for alleged victims of “lawfare.”
© 2024 AFP
