Senate GOP delays ICE, Border Patrol funding amid row on ‘anti-weaponization fund’

Senate Republicans on Thursday delayed a planned vote on a reconciliation package to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol until June amid an ongoing row over the Department of Justice’s creation of an “anti-weaponization fund.”The $1.8 billion fund was created as part of a settlement to end President Donald Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS over the leak of his tax returns by a government contractor. The fund will provide restitution to people who claim to have suffered political persecution under the Biden DOJ.
The fund has earned scrutiny from Senate Republicans and its creation appears to have prompted reservations from the conference about advancing the funding package, NBC News reported.
The delay also comes after Trump earned the ire of some Senate Republicans by endorsing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton over Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas.
In the wake of the record-long Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown, Republicans have sought to separately pass funding for immigration enforcement through reconciliation in order to avoid the 60-vote filibuster threshold in the upper chamber.
Ben Whedon is the Chief Political Correspondent for Just the News. Follow him on X.

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