The US Senate has abandoned plans to pass a $70bn immigration enforcement bill after a dispute over funding for President Donald Trump's White House ballroom and a proposed $1.8bn 'anti-weaponisation' fund. Republican senators confirmed on Thursday that the legislation would not meet the 1 June deadline set by Trump, as lawmakers left Washington for the Memorial Day recess.
The bill, which aimed to restore funding to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and border patrol, was derailed by a Republican backlash against attempts to include $1bn for security measures tied to Trump's ballroom project. Critics also objected to a separate $1.776bn fund, described as a 'slush fund', intended to compensate Trump allies as part of an agreement to drop a $10bn lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service.
Republican Senator Bill Cassidy, who lost his primary after Trump intervened, questioned the legality of the fund, stating, 'I don't actually see any legal precedent for that. We are a nation of laws, you can't just make up things whole-piece.' Senate Democrats pledged to oppose the ballroom funding and force repeated votes to make Republicans publicly endorse it.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune acknowledged 'ongoing vote issues' with the bill, while Democratic leader Chuck Schumer accused Republicans of trying to 'sneak' ballroom funding into the legislation. 'The American people caught them red-handed, and now they're trying to drop that hot potato,' Schumer said.
Trump defended the ballroom proposal as a national security measure, including a drone port and bulletproof glass, warning that without the funds, 'the White House won't be a very secure place.' The East Wing was demolished last year for the project, which remains controversial and embroiled in litigation.
