Republicans see path forward on reconciliation after administration backs down on anti-weaponization fund
by Alexander Bolton - 06/02/26 6:00 AM ET
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and other GOP senators see a path for passing the stalled budget reconciliation package funding immigration enforcement operations through Congress after the Trump administration on Monday backed down from a proposal to establish a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund for MAGA allies.
Thune on Monday called on the White House to abandon the proposal to establish what some GOP critics have called a “slush fund.” Shortly after, the Justice Department announced it would abide by a federal court decision temporarily blocking the administration from setting up the fund pending further litigation.
The result is that Republican leaders in both chambers now feel confident they can pass the $72 billion budget reconciliation package as long as it remains narrowly focused on funding Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol through 2029.
The package will not include funding for security upgrades to President Trump’s proposed 90,000-square-foot White House ballroom, which had also generated strong pushback from several Senate Republicans.
“The best way to get the reconciliation bill moving and across the finish line is to confine it to the issues that we were addressing in the initial bill, which was CBP and ICE and funding it for the next three years, through the end of the Trump administration,” Thune said, referring to Customs and Border Protection, which includes Border Patrol.
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https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5904816-gop-senators-reconciliation-anti-weaponization-fund/
