Senate Republicans on Thursday narrowly defeated a Democratic attempt to block President Donald Trump from establishing a £1.4bn fund to compensate his allies, exposing deepening divisions within the GOP. The amendment, proposed by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, would have barred the payouts in a Republican-backed bill funding Trump’s mass deportation campaign. After a three-hour vote, the measure failed 49-50, with three Republican senators crossing party lines to support it.
The three Republicans—Susan Collins of Maine, Dan Sullivan of Alaska, and Jon Husted of Ohio—are all considered vulnerable in November’s midterm elections. Husted, in particular, trails his Democratic challenger by eight points in a recent Fox News poll. Their defection underscores the controversy surrounding Trump’s proposed “anti-weaponisation” fund, which could issue financial settlements to individuals linked to the January 6 insurrection.
Despite Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche assuring lawmakers that the administration would not proceed with the fund, Schumer insisted Congress must legislate to block the money. “Republicans are trusting the word of Todd Blanche, who built a career on lying,” he said, noting Trump’s public support for the fund. “Do any of us believe that Donald Trump, who has lied to us day in and day out, will be able to resist getting his sticky fingers in the slush fund?”
The standoff is part of a broader dispute over funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which sparked a 75-day partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security earlier this year. Republicans are seeking to pass a £54bn bill funding these agencies through 2029 using budget reconciliation, bypassing the Democratic filibuster.
After Schumer’s amendment failed, Republican Senator Thom Tillis proposed redirecting the fund’s money to Justice Department anti-fraud efforts. Democrats rejected that amendment, with Senator Jeff Merkley calling it insufficient: “Taking one slush fund and eliminating it to create a new slush fund still under the control of the attorney general is not the way to go.” Tillis’s amendment failed with only 14 votes in favour.
The issue is expected to resurface as Congress continues negotiations, with the fund remaining a flashpoint within the Republican Party and complicating efforts to resolve the funding impasse.
