Senate Republicans narrowly block bid to bar Trump’s $1.8bn fund to pay allies
Senate Republicans on Thursday narrowly scuttled an attempt by Democrats to stop Donald Trump from creating a $1.8bn fund to pay his allies, even as signs emerged that dissent over the proposal was spreading inside the US president’s own party.
Democratic Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer had proposed inserting language barring the payouts into Republican-backed legislation to fund Trump’s mass deportation campaign through the duration of his term.
After a vote that stretched for three hours as groups of senators were spotted huddling on the chamber’s floor, the amendment failed by a 49-50 vote. Three Republican senators, all of whom are seen as vulnerable in November’s midterm elections, broke with their party to join all Democrats in support.
Though Schumer’s amendment failed, the matter is likely to come up again before Congress. The president’s plan for an “anti-weaponization” fund that could issue financial settlements to people connected to the January 6 insurrection has riven Senate Republicans, and complicated their efforts to settle for good a standoff with Democrats over funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), agencies the president has tasked with implementing his hardline immigration policies.
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Here’s some more reaction from the marathon vote-a-rama session in the Senate overnight:
Amy Klobachur, Democratic senator from Minnesota:
“I voted until 5 a.m. today to block Trump’s $1.8 billion slush fund,” Klobluchar wrote on X. “Your tax dollars should not be going to Jan. 6th rioters who went after officers. And why give MORE money to ICE when they’re already bigger than the FBI? The extra 70B could instead fund yrs of health care!”
Alex Padilla, Democratic senator from California:
“Let me remind us all of the deaths of Americans like Renee Good, Alex Pretti and Ruben Ray Martinez,” Padilla said in a speech on the floor. “Let me remind us all of how this administration is using children like 5-year-old Liam Ramos as bait. Let me remind our colleagues about the price gouging that is happening – mothers and children at Dilley Detention Center (in Texas) having to pay so much just to access clean water – and letting thousands of children languish in detention, jailing more than 6,200 chilren since the beginning of this administration. That’s a shame.
“And now they (Republicans) want to shield them from more than 425 judges appointed by both Democrat and Republican presidents, including some appointed by Donald Trump himself, who have isseud more than 10,000 rulings finding that ICE has violated the Constitution of the United States.”
Kevin Cramer, Republican senator from North Dakota:
“For 76 days, Democrats kept the Department of Homeland Security in limbo,” Cramer posted on X. “Then they made it crystal clear that they’d rather defund law enforcement than defend law enforcement…Republicans refuse to go backward or sacrifice the safety of our law enforcement personnel to Democrats’ open border fantasies.”
Cindy Hyde-Smith, Republican senator from Mississippi:
“Senate Democrats just can’t seem to understand that after four years of the Biden admin’s catastrophic open border policies – including a record 12,600 encounters in a single day – Americans want secure borders and safe communities,” Hyde-Smith posted on X.
Senate Republicans pass bill authorizing $70bn for immigration enforcement in vote-a-rama
Senate Republicans early Friday passed a bill that would provide the Department of Homeland Security with nearly $70 billion in new funds for immigration enforcement.
The vote came after a more than 18-hour “vote-a-rama”, a process by which senators offer amendments to bills passed using the reconciliation procedure. The Senate’s Democratic minority leader, Chuck Schumer, had said earlier this week that he would use vote-a-rama to force Republicans into publicly defending the policies of Donald Trump, a move that ultimately forced Senate Republicans to drop their attempt to spend $1bn on security improvements for Trump’s White House ballroom.
Among the amendments voted on in this marathon session was an attempt introduced by Schumer to kill the “anti-weaponization fund” and stop Trump from creating a $1.8bn fund to pay his allies. The measure was narrowly defeated in a 49-50 vote after three Republican senators broke with their party to join all Democrats in support.
“Tonight, Senate Republicans passed a rotten bill that makes their priorities painfully clear: more money for Donald Trump, more power for Donald Trump, and nothing to lower costs for working families,” Schumer said in a statement posted on X after the immigration reforcement funding bill passed.
He continued: “…The Republican agenda is now written in black and white: A slush fund for Trump, tax dodges for Trump, a ballroom for Trump, and a private militia for Trump. For hard-working Americans? Nothing.”
On X, Republican senator Lindsey Graham said he was “very proud of my Republican colleagues for sticking together and making sure that Border Patrol and ICE (Immigration Customs and Enforcement) are fully funded”. “Well done to President Trump and my Republican colleagues,” Graham said.
Lisa Murkowski was the only Republican senator to vote against the new immigration enforcement funding.
In other developments:
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New abuse allegations have emerged against Greg Platner, a Democratic candidate for the Senate. Platner, a progressive running for election in Maine, has rejected the new report published on Thursday in the New York Times that included an interview with a Republican operative who accused him of womanizing, physical misconduct and making troubling comments about rape.
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Trump has suggested that his controversial ally Bill Pulte will investigate “rigged elections” while serving as the country’s top intelligence official. Pulte, whom Trump appointed as acting director of national intelligence earlier this week, is a “very smart guy,” Trump claimed on Thursday, “and you may find out some things about the rigged elections, etc, etc”.
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Pam Bondi on Thursday told lawmakers before the House oversight and reform committee that Todd Blanche, the man Trump has lined up to replace her, was “in charge” of the the US Department of Justice’s controversial handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files.
