House Speaker Mike Johnson headed to the White House on Monday as President Donald Trump’s demand for congressional funding for a $1.776 billion “slush fund” for his political allies threatens to derail Republican efforts to pass further funding for ICE and CBP.
The meeting took place Monday morning, the first day back for lawmakers in Washington after the House and Senate left for the Memorial Day holiday without beginning the process of votes for the GOP budget reconciliation package. The legislation, which can avert a filibuster under Senate rules, is the GOP’s last and best hope of passing further funding for Donald Trump’s mass deportation engine without negotiating with Democrats.
Trump’s demand for the “anti-weaponization” fund could blow that plan up altogether. Already facing thin margins in the House and Senate, Republican lawmakers in both chambers are publicly skeptical or outright hostile towards the idea of the fund, which is set to be used to disburse payouts to Americans “targeted” by the Department of Justice for prosecution under the past two Democratic administrations. Critics say it will be used as a way to shell out cash to Trump’s political allies, including persons convicted of attacking police on January 6. The administration hasn’t ruled this out.
The Independent has reached out to the White House for comment. Axios and Punchbowl reported Monday afternoon that Trump was backing down from the demand in the face of a shocking Republican revolt.
Senators left for the Memorial Day holiday last month after a meeting in the Senate over the weaponization fund turned contentious, with Republican senators “screaming” at Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche over the White House’s demands, according to Sen. Ted Cruz. The meeting revealed the wide gulf separating the White House and a seemingly massive segment of the Senate GOP caucus over the issue.
As that meeting concluded, former Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell, who is retiring this year, released a statement deriding the White House’s course as “utterly stupid”.
“So the nation’s top law enforcement official is asking for a slush fund to pay people who assault cops? Utterly stupid, morally wrong — Take your pick,” said McConnell, one of the chamber’s most senior Republicans.
Trump and the Republican House and Senate caucuses view the reconciliation package as must-pass legislation following their retreat from negotiations with Democrats at the start of the year. The twin shootings of Americans in Minneapolis during the administration’s surge of federal law enforcement to the city ignited calls for reforms of ICE and CBP which Democrats demanded in exchange for their votes on funding legislation for the Department of Homeland Security.
That debate turned into a stalemate, with the White House and Republicans unwilling to agree to Democratic demands. Congressional Republicans eventually backed down, allowing the House and Senate to fund all of DHS minus ICE enforcement and removal operations, vowing instead to pass that funding through reconcilation.
Trump’s demand for an “anti-weaponization” fund dates back several months. Since retaking office, Trump has moved to reshape the Department of Justice into an arm of his presidency, rather than an independent law enforcement bureau as it traditionally operated. The president used his prosecution by the DOJ for attempting to overturn the 2020 election as rationale for mounting a revenge campaign against his political enemies, using criminal prosecutions and investigations in attempts to punish his critics and rivals. Targets for those efforts have included former FBI Director James Comey, writer E. Jean Carroll (who won two defamation suits against Trump after claiming he sexually assaulted her), and Sen. Adam Schiff of California.
His efforts to weaponize the DOJ against his foes have mostly been shot down by the courts, which are also taking a swing at the “slush fund”. A judge ruled on Friday to temporarily block the fund from going into effect.
