By Lindsay Wise, Richard Rubin and Siobhan Hughes

WASHINGTON -- Senate Republicans broke with President Trump over his administration's plan to create a $1.8 billion settlement fund to pay people who claim political persecution, with widespread opposition forcing party leaders Thursday to abandon votes on immigration-enforcement funding and send lawmakers home early for their Memorial Day break.

The "anti-weaponization" fund is a 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 unfairly by the Biden administration. But its creation has run into blowback in the Senate, and the immigration-enforcement bill gave senators 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."

With no resolution in sight, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R., S.D.) sent senators home for their weeklong Memorial Day recess, putting the Republican-led Congress on course to miss Trump's deadline to have the Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol measure on his desk by June 1.

Passing the measure "obviously became a more complicated and bumpy path than we had hoped for," said Thune, who had raised his own concerns about the fund and said his colleagues had "very legitimate questions."

Opposition to the weaponization fund went far beyond the handful of GOP senators who have spoken up publicly and included far more than half of Senate Republicans, according to people familiar with the matter.

The fight comes as Republicans are growing nervous about their prospects for the midterms and their ability to pass any significant legislation before November. The president's decision this week to target another GOP senator, John Cornyn of Texas, for political extinction rattled many Republicans whose loyalty to the White House had been steadfast.

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 and send it to the House. Some GOP senators then pushed for adding language to that bill that would curtail the anti-weaponization fund, crossing Trump. Lawmakers also were bracing for potential Democratic amendments that would force them to take a public stand on the fund.

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. The two-hour closed-door meeting failed to win over Republican dissenters, and lawmakers left looking glum.

"So the nation's top law-enforcement official is asking for a slush fund to pay people who assault cops? Utterly stupid, morally wrong -- take your pick," said Sen. Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.), the former GOP leader who is retiring after this term.

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

The fund is the byproduct of a lawsuit that Trump filed against the Internal Revenue Service, seeking $10 billion in damages for the illegal disclosure of his tax returns by a government contractor. Trump then dropped the suit -- in advance of a federal judge's deadline -- in exchange for the creation of the fund and an announcement by Blanche that pending tax audits of Trump and his businesses will cease.

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."

However, 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. Te Trump family and businesses do benefit from the end to their audits.

By leaving Washington, Republicans left the fund intact and without any of the guardrails they might want to impose. When they return in June, it will likely take specific action -- perhaps with Democrats -- to place constraints on the $1.8 billion.

"We'll do everything we can to stop this slush fund, whether it's in the courts, whether it's legislative," said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y).

Congress passed money for most of the Department of Homeland Security earlier this year, but Democrats blocked funding for immigration enforcement as they sought to secure policy changes following the deaths of two U.S. citizens during an enforcement surge in Minnesota. Senate Republicans are now trying to pass funding 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.

"Republicans are in complete disarray," Schumer said. They "are divided over things that Americans don't want."

Senators have aired growing concerns about Trump's heavy hand. The president stunned Republicans on Tuesday by endorsing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton over Cornyn ahead of the state's Senate GOP runoff next Tuesday. In recent days, Trump's favored candidates defeated Sen. Bill Cassidy (R., La.) and Rep. Thomas Massie (R., Ky.) in GOP primaries. Those developments 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.

The uproar over the weaponization fund came a day after Republicans signaled they will abandon a proposal to provide $1 billion for security upgrades to the White House complex and Trump's planned ballroom. Some GOP lawmakers worry the request appears tone-deaf amid a conflict with Iran that has pushed average gasoline prices past $4.50 a 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. Fitzpatrick has also criticized the weaponization fund and introduced a bill with Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi of New York to block any payments from it.

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 18:14 ET (22:14 GMT)

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