Republican Infighting Over $1.8 Billion ‘Slush Fund’ Derails ICE and CBP Funding Vote
A $72 billion reconciliation bill designed to dramatically expand funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) collapsed Thursday before a vote could be held, as a deepening Republican revolt over a controversial “anti-weaponization fund” fractured the party’s Senate majority. The breakdown means Republicans are now expected to miss President Donald Trump’s self-imposed June 1 deadline to pass the legislation.
What Derailed the Vote
The immediate trigger was a nearly $1.8 billion reserve fund — dubbed the “anti-weaponization fund” — inserted into the bill to compensate people the Justice Department deemed to have been wrongfully targeted. The provision, announced Monday, drew fierce opposition from Republican senators who called it legally unprecedented and fiscally irresponsible.
A two-hour meeting Thursday morning between GOP leaders and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche failed to resolve the standoff. Several senators emerged from the meeting more frustrated than when they entered. Shortly after, Republican leadership announced the vote would be postponed until after the Memorial Day recess — the same week as Trump’s deadline.
Republicans Break Ranks — Loudly
The backlash from within the GOP was unusually blunt. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) said on X: “People are concerned about paying their mortgage or rent, affording groceries and paying for gas, not about putting together a $1.8 billion fund for the president and his allies to pay whomever they wish with no legal precedent or accountability.”
Sen. Tom Tillis (R-N.C.) called the provision “stupid on stilts,” telling CNN: “Taxpayer dollars will compensate someone who assaulted a police officer, got convicted… and now we’re going to pay him for that? This is absurd.”
Perhaps the most striking rebuke came from former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who called the settlement fund “utterly stupid, morally wrong,” adding: “The nation’s top law enforcement official is asking for a slush fund to pay people who assault cops?”
Jan. 6 Defendants Could Benefit — Vance Won’t Rule It Out
The political stakes sharpened further when Vice President JD Vance declined to rule out using the fund to compensate defendants convicted in connection with the January 6 Capitol riot. Vance said the Justice Department would evaluate claims on a “case-by-case” basis — a statement that amplified Republican unease and handed Democrats a ready line of attack.
Democrats had planned to exploit the bill’s vulnerabilities through a vote-a-rama — a Senate procedure allowing rapid amendment votes designed to force members on record on politically damaging topics, including the anti-weaponization fund and a separate $1 billion allocation for Secret Service protection tied to Trump’s planned White House ballroom.
The Ballroom Problem
The White House ballroom provision added another layer of intraparty tension. Trump had previously pledged the project would be funded entirely through private donations. Under the current proposal, approximately $220 million would cover security improvements related to the ballroom, with the remainder going to broader Secret Service expenses. Several Republican senators said they would oppose the full package if that provision remained.
What’s Actually at Stake
The bill would have allocated $23 billion to CBP and $31 billion to ICE — agencies that already became the largest-funded law enforcement bodies in the country after receiving an additional $140 billion through the One Big Beautiful Bill last year.
Funding for ICE and CBP was also the central flashpoint in the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, which ended just last month. Despite that resolution, the underlying disputes over immigration enforcement spending have never been fully settled.
Democrats Seize the Moment
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) held a press conference immediately after the vote collapsed. “Republicans are so divided, so dysfunctional, so disorganized that they are fleeing Washington,” he said. “Their majority can’t melt down fast enough — not when the American people’s financial situation is melting every day.”
Schumer’s framing — however partisan — reflects a real structural problem for Republicans: a slim Senate majority, a restive caucus, and a White House that keeps inserting politically toxic provisions into must-pass legislation.
What Comes Next
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said the chamber would “pick up where we left off” when senators return from recess. But with Trump’s June 1 deadline now effectively out of reach, and Republican unity further strained, the path to passage remains uncertain.
A Justice Department spokesperson insisted that “not a single dime” of reconciliation money would flow into the anti-weaponization fund — a clarification that did little to reassure skeptical senators before they boarded planes home.