By Ken Thomas, Richard Rubin and Siobhan Hughes

WASHINGTON -- President Trump and the GOP-controlled Senate collided head-on Thursday over the administration's "anti-weaponization fund," with a majority of Republican senators breaking with the White House over concerns about the $1.8 billion program's legality and lack of guardrails.

With the two sides at an impasse, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R., S.D.) sent senators home for their Memorial Day recess, missing Trump's deadline to have a bill funding Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol on his desk by the end of this week.

"We will pick up where we left off," said Thune, who had raised his own concerns about the fund and said his colleagues had "very legitimate questions."

The contentious fund is a top Trump priority, after he alleged for years that his supporters, including those prosecuted over the Jan. 6, 2021, attack at the Capitol, had been targeted by the Justice Department. But its creation by the administration ran into blowback in the Senate, and the immigration-enforcement bill gave them leverage to dig in their heels.

"I don't like the fund at all," said Sen. John Curtis (R., Utah), who added he didn't think any guardrails could fix it. Sen. Thom Tillis (R., N.C.), a frequent target of Trump criticism who is retiring, called it a "payout pot for punks."

Opposition to the weaponization fund went far beyond the handful of GOP senators who have spoken up publicly, according to people familiar with their thinking. Concern is widespread across the GOP conference and includes far more than half of Senate Republicans, the people said.

The fight comes as Republicans are growing nervous about their prospects for the midterms as well as whether they will be able to pass any more of Trump's agenda ahead of November. The president's decision this week to target another GOP senator, John Cornyn of Texas, for political extinction -- by endorsing his primary opponent -- rattled many Republicans who had been steadfastly loyal to the White House.

Asked if he was losing control of Senate Republicans, Trump responded: "I really don't know. I can tell you I only do what's right."

Republicans had been aiming to pass a $70 billion multiyear package for ICE and Border Patrol this week. Some GOP senators then pushed for adding language to that bill that would curtail the anti-weaponization fund, crossing Trump.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, Trump's former personal lawyer, was dispatched Thursday morning to Capitol Hill to brief lawmakers on the fund and listen to their concerns. But the meeting didn't win over Republican dissenters.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R., Alaska) described the mood in the Blanche meeting as "challenging." She said the the announcement of the fund by Blanche earlier this week "dropped a bomb in the middle of a pretty well planned out" process to fund the immigration package.

The fund is the byproduct of a lawsuit that Trump had filed against the administration he runs. Trump then dropped the suit -- in advance of a judge's deadline -- in exchange for the creation of the fund and an agreement by the Internal Revenue Service to drop audits of him.

In a one-page overview of the fund sent to Senate Republicans, the Justice Department wrote that there is "no partisan restriction: Democrats can submit claims, too," and noted that as part of the settlement creating the fund, the president, "his sons, and the Trump Organization LLC will receive a formal apology but no monetary payment or damages of any kind. They cannot receive any money from the Fund, either."

But Blanche will appoint the commissioners who run the fund and Trump can fire them, and the fund's definition of weaponization references actions taken by the Biden administration.

Congress passed money for most of the Department of Homeland Security earlier this year, but Democrats blocked funding for immigration enforcement. Senate Republicans are now trying to pass money for ICE and Border Patrol through a process called budget reconciliation, which requires a simple majority rather than the 60 votes typically required. The GOP has a 53-47 majority in the chamber.

Senators have aired growing concerns about Trump's heavy hand. The president on Tuesday stunned Republicans by endorsing state Attorney General Ken Paxton ahead of Tuesday's Texas Senate runoff race over Cornyn. In recent days, Trump's favored candidates defeated Sen. Bill Cassidy (R., La.) and Rep. Thomas Massie (R., Ky.) in GOP primaries. Those developments both rattled Republicans and created what lawmakers call the YOLO caucus -- lawmakers who have nothing left to lose -- some of whom have become loud voices of opposition.

"Do you really think that the American people like the president suing himself, basically, then making a deal that benefits himself with a broad immunity, for not just for IRS dealings but anything else?" said Cassidy.

Cassidy for the first time voted this week with Democrats to advance a war-powers resolution designed to rein in U.S. military action in Iran. A similar House vote is set for later Thursday and could pass.

The uproar over the weaponization fund came a day after Republicans also signaled they will abandon a proposal to provide $1 billion for security upgrades to the White House complex and Trump's planned White House ballroom. Some GOP lawmakers worry the request appears tone-deaf amid a conflict with Iran that has pushed average gasoline prices past $4.50 per gallon across the nation.

"I know my constituents, and I'm sure many other representatives' constituents do not want taxpayer money going to a ballroom," said Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R., Pa.), the co-chair of the bipartisan Problem Solvers' Caucus who faces a tough re-election battle, on Wednesday.

Trump, who has said the ballroom would be built using funds from private donors, said construction would go ahead. When asked what happens if Congress doesn't sign off on the security money, Trump replied: "Then the White House won't be a very secure place."

About $200 million of the $1 billion total is designated for the "East Wing modernization project," including above- and below-ground "hardening" of the ballroom, according to a cost breakdown shared with Republicans senators. The rest would go toward training, visitor-screening facilities and other Secret Service priorities.

Write to Ken Thomas at ken.thomas@wsj.com, Richard Rubin at richard.rubin@wsj.com and Siobhan Hughes at Siobhan.hughes@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 21, 2026 14:41 ET (18:41 GMT)

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