Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins has postponed committee action this week on a slate of government funding bills as Democrats prepare amendments targeting the “Anti-Weaponization Fund” still roiling congressional Republicans.
The Senate Appropriations Committee was scheduled to mark up three funding measures Thursday, but the committee announced Tuesday that the meeting would be rescheduled. The postponement comes as Republicans brace for votes on Democratic proposals to block several controversial Trump administration policies.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said in an interview that he has “already drafted a bunch” of amendments to block the Justice Department from carrying out the $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told lawmakers the administration will not pursue.
“We should just eliminate this taxpayer slush fund altogether. I understand the Trump administration says they’re OK with that now. So let’s just make sure it doesn’t rear its head again,” Van Hollen said.
Those amendments would be for the bill that funds the departments of Commerce and Justice, along with NASA, federal science programs and the FBI.
“We’ve been able to work cooperatively on some of the big areas, like NASA and some of the other agencies,” said Van Hollen, ranking member on the appropriations panel that funds those agencies. “But there are big issues regarding DOJ.”
Van Hollen said he is also considering amendments related to President Donald Trump‘s decision to forgo relocating the FBI headquarters to suburban Maryland after the site was selected in a decade-long competition. That issue derailed committee approval last year of the bill that funds the FBI.
Collins and Washington Sen. Patty Murray, the Senate’s top Democratic appropriator, have also yet to agree on bipartisan funding totals for the fiscal year that begins in October.
The committee was also set Thursday to consider bills to fund the Department of Agriculture and the FDA, as well as the operations of Congress.
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