Senate GOP leaders are powering ahead with plans to pass $70 billion in new immigration enforcement funding — despite sharp disagreements that still exist in the party over how to handle President Donald Trump’s contentious settlement fund.
Success is not yet guaranteed. Senate Majority Leader John Thune and his team are still working to quell internal GOP tensions over Trump’s push for a $1.8 billion fund to compensate people who believe they were victimized by the government. The administration has sought to convince lawmakers that the fund is dead, with acting Attorney General Todd Blanche telling lawmakers Tuesday that the administration is “not moving forward with the fund, period.”
Trump himself, though, has been less clear, and appears to have publicly contradicted his own advisers about its fate. Asked by the New York Post in a podcast interview whether he had dropped the fund, Trump said: “No, a court ruled against” it. (The podcast, which aired Wednesday, was taped the day before.)
And there’s another major headache for Trump in the bill: Senate Republicans formally stripped out nearly $1 billion in security funds, including for his East Wing ballroom project, in the latest version of the legislative text released Wednesday.
