Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has a chance Tuesday to convince Republicans he’s dropping plans for a controversial $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund.”
But it’s unclear if members of his party will be swayed enough to unjam President Donald Trump’s larger agenda.
Senate Republicans — enough of whom returned from recess still furious about the pot of money — will discuss the status of the fund during a closed-door lunch Tuesday, according to several Republican senators.
Hours later Blanche is set to testify to House appropriators certain to grill him on his statements last month that the fund could be used to pay people who attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
That testimony set off a furor that scuttled planned votes on separate legislation to fund agencies such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement for the remainder of Trump’s presidency.
Republican senators, including some top leaders, said a Justice Department statement Monday that it would “abide by” a federal judge’s ruling to temporarily halt any payouts of the fund was not enough to calm concerns.
“It’s pretty clear that the president has to say very explicitly that there’s not going to be a weaponization fund,” Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley told reporters.
“The reconciliation bill looks like a broken arm with the bones sticking out,” said Sen. John Kennedy. “It won’t move this week, in my opinion, unless we have some resolution on the weaponization fund.”
Also testifying Tuesday is Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, who is expected to underscore for Senate Appropriations the urgency in passing the larger $70 billion funding package for immigration enforcement agencies.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he believed the DOJ statement made it “clear that they’re not proceeding with the fund,” but leaders are “still sorting through” whether the statement was sufficient to satisfy members.
Several GOP senators didn’t close the door when asked about adding language related to the fund to the current party-line bill or supporting separate legislation. And some Senate Republicans could still vote to add a preemptive ban to the funding bill or support amendments — along with Democrats who label it a “slush” fund — that would limit or nix the account, four Republican aides acknowledged.
Such a step, if it’s not explicitly backed by Trump, could threaten to sink the overall bill.
Thune said that Republicans should know by Tuesday if they are going to be able to revive the immigration enforcement bill this week.
What else we’re watching:
— JOHNSON CAN’T STIFLE IRAN WAR POWERS DEFECTORS: Speaker Mike Johnson and House GOP leaders are all but certain they can’t stave off handing Trump an embarrassing loss this week on his military campaign in Iran. A critical mass of Republicans are poised to break ranks and vote with Democrats to rein in Trump’s ability to continue the Iran war, according to three people granted anonymity to discuss private talks.
— PLATNER’S SENATE FAN CLUB STANDS FIRM AMID SCANDALS: Senators who have backed Maine Senate Democratic candidate Graham Platner are dismissing concerns that a litany of potentially damaging stories could endanger the party’s prospects to pick up the seat. Platner is set to meet with a group of Democratic senators in Washington on Tuesday after new reporting surfaced over the weekend that he exchanged sexual text messages with other women while married.
Meredith Lee Hill, Jessica Piper, Lisa Kashinsky and Andrew Howard contributed to this report.
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