The political standoff between Senate Republicans and the White House intensified as Republican senators returned without an agreement on President Trump’s reconciliation funds.
WASHINGTON — Ten days after Republican senators defiantly left town without passing legislation to fund President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement agency, the standoff between the White House and the Senate remains unresolved.
Senate Republicans returning to Washington on Monday said they would not have the votes to pass a homeland security spending bill until the White House works with them to determine the parameters of a new homeland security spending bill. $1.776 billion settlement fund Aiming to compensate Trump’s allies. But even after the judge’s hearing, Trump showed no interest in doing so. Temporarily stop any payments.
It’s unclear how they will resolve the dispute.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said before the Senate left town on May 21 that the Trump administration “has to come up with some proposals and ideas.” Thune, who is from South Dakota, said the settlement funds — some of which could go to Trump supporters who assaulted and assaulted police officers. Attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021 — “It just makes everything more difficult than it should be.”
The standoff over the “anti-weaponization” fund could become a turning point as Republicans try to maintain their majority and advance their agenda in this year’s elections. Trump’s campaign to defeat Republican lawmakers he viewed as disloyal, including some of the most reliable Republican votes Thune narrowly won in the Senate, 53-47, has only heightened tensions.
Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy and John Cornyn of Texas Both lost re-election in May after Trump endorsed their primary rivals, and it’s unclear how supportive they are of the president’s future agenda. A growing number of Republican senators have become frustrated with the president Because he ignored what they saw as political needs.
“I think it’s hard to separate anything that’s going on here from what’s going on in the political climate around us,” Thune said.
Democrats say they plan to propose several amendments to the immigration bill that would scale back or eliminate the settlement. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a letter to colleagues Monday morning that Democrats would “take coordinated action to eliminate this slush fund before a cent is lost.”
“No matter what Republicans do, we will force them to vote on this,” he wrote.
As anger among Senate Republicans grew, Trump made clear he was not highly concerned.
“I don’t care about the midterms,” Trump said in a speech last week. Discussion about the Iran War.
Senate Republicans draw line on reconciliation fund
In a closed-door meeting with Acting Attorney General Todd Branch before leaving town, Republican senators issued an ultimatum of sorts — put some limits on the settlement, or we’ll do it for you.
Republican senators have been discussing several ways to curb the fund, including limiting who can receive payments, changing the makeup of the committee responsible for settlement decisions, adding some kind of judicial review of applicants or abolishing the fund entirely. Republicans have discussed adding reconciliation parameters to unrelated immigration enforcement measures but would prefer the White House make changes on its own.
There was little sign of progress during the Memorial Day recess.
Indiana Sen. Todd Young told The Associated Press last week that he had seen no indication “that they sent us a plan that our leadership found acceptable.”
“This is in their court,” Yang said of the White House.
Tennessee Sen. Bill Hagerty said on Fox News Sunday’s “Fox News Sunday” that discussions are ongoing “to come to a workable package.”
“I think there were more details and more questions that needed to be addressed last week,” Hagerty said, adding, “I look forward to seeing the details next week.”
Acting attorney general feuds with Senate
Branch told The Associated Press in an interview Thursday that “a lot of questions will be answered in the short term.” But he did not elaborate, saying “I don’t think it’s fair to the entire process to talk about it in a hypothetical way.”
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz described this on a podcast, saying the acting attorney general’s meeting with the senators before they left town was “angry.” Cruz said that of the roughly 45 Senate Republicans in attendance, “at least half were bashing the attorney general.”
The Senate was scheduled to meet late that night to vote on an immigration spending bill, but leaders canceled the vote and sent everyone home. Cruz said Republican senators were “crying out” and told Branch the fund was part of a settlement to address Trump. Lawsuit against the IRS Regarding the leak of his tax returns, “it feels like a self-deal” and “it feels like Trump made a deal with himself.”
Cruz expressed support for the fund, noting that Democrats have said they would introduce amendments to kill it. If Republicans stay in session, “they’re going to lose every vote,” he said.
“We’re going to see the administration at least announce changes to this, because if they don’t, there will be a full-scale revolt in the Senate,” he predicted.
Defendants could get settlement on January 6
Cruz said senators had a lot of questions about the Jan. 6 defendants, and Branch assured them that anyone who committed violence or assaulted a law enforcement officer would not be compensated. But Branch has repeatedly declined to say that publicly, telling The Associated Press that “there are no restrictions on who can apply.”
Asked about the violence that occurred on Jan. 6, Branch said it can be difficult to define.
“Who is it? I mean, tell me?” Blanche said. “You have to define something and then stick to it. So it’s something I’ve been hesitant to try to do because it’s so fact-based.”
Trump pardoned more than 1,500 defendants charged and prosecuted in the 2021 attacks, including hundreds of defendants convicted of the attacks. Violently beating and injuring police officers as they broke into the Capitol.
Unification of immigration enforcement derailed by other issues
Divisiveness over fund comes after Republicans have abandoned it $1 billion in safe funding For the White House, that includes Trump’s new ballroomas a democrat and some republicans Question the use of taxpayer money for large projects during tough economic times. In addition to reconciliation, Democrats plan to force Republican senators to vote for or against dance hall funding.
What remains in the legislation is funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol, which Democrats have blocked for months in protest of the administration’s Immigration enforcement crackdown.
Republicans are Use sophisticated budgeting strategies Calls for reconciliation to fund these agencies through the end of Trump’s term without Democratic support. Still, success will require Republican unity and Trump’s eventual signature.
Democrats say they expect their Republican colleagues to continue to stand up to the White House. Michigan Sen. Gary Peters said last week that he believed the settlement fund was “probably one of the most corrupt things we’ve ever seen a president of the United States do.”
“For some of my Republican Senate colleagues, this is a bridge too far,” Peters said. “I hope they realize what was done is completely unacceptable and that they stand their ground.”
Associated Press writers Steven Sloan and Joey Cappelletti in Washington and Jamie Stengel in Dallas contributed to this report.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. all rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
