WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� Senate Republicans will meet Tuesday to discuss next steps after the Justice Department said it pausing the implementation of a $1.776 billion settlement fund designed to compensate President Donald Trump鈥檚 political allies.
GOP senators who before leaving for a Memorial Day recess two weeks ago say they want more information from the administration about the future of the fund, which could potentially go to Trump supporters who beat police and . Meanwhile, Trump is reconsidering whether to move forward with it at all, according to a person familiar with his thinking.
Caught in the middle is legislation that would fund Trump鈥檚 immigration enforcement agencies for three years. Republicans abruptly left town without passing it after Democrats said they would offer amendments to scrap or scale back the judgment fund, forcing Republicans to go on the record for or against it and endangering the money for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol.
Returning to Washington on Monday evening, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he wasn鈥檛 sure if the immigration spending bill would move this week.
鈥淭o be determined,鈥� he told reporters.
The comes after Trump announced the fund with no heads up to lawmakers as part of a settlement to resolve his over the leak of his tax returns. When word of the settlement broke, the Senate was navigating tricky passage of the immigration legislation with an 鈥� including for Trump鈥檚 ballroom project.
Furious, Senate Republicans jettisoned the White House security money from the bill and made clear they would not pass the legislation at all unless the White House made major changes to the settlement.
鈥淚 do think the best way to handle it is if the administration decides to shut it down themselves,鈥� Thune told reporters Monday, referring to the fund.
He said Republicans will have a better idea of how to proceed after they meet for their weekly conference lunch on Tuesday.
Senators say they need more 鈥榚xplicit鈥� commitment
The Justice Department said it would comply with a ruling Friday from who temporarily halted the fund for two weeks. The judge scheduled a June 12 hearing for arguments on whether to extend her order.
The department said in a statement that it strongly disagrees with the ruling but would comply.
Republican senators weren’t satisfied. They said Monday evening that they need more detail from the administration on what happens after that deadline before deciding next steps.
鈥淚t鈥檚 pretty clear that the president has to say very explicitly that there鈥檚 not going to be a weaponization fund,鈥� said Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.
Oklahoma Sen. Jim Lankford said Trump administration officials 鈥渘eed to say what they actually mean.鈥�
鈥淭hey need to say, we鈥檙e setting this whole thing aside,鈥� Lankford said.
Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski said that if the settlement is 鈥渃ompletely pulled, then I鈥檓 satisfied. But I haven鈥檛 heard anybody say that.鈥�
Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana said the administration already has to abide by the court decision, 鈥渢hat鈥檚 in the Constitution. I have to know more about their position.鈥�
鈥淩ight now, the reconciliation bill looks like a broken arm with the bones sticking out,鈥� Kennedy said. 鈥淚t won鈥檛 move this week, in my opinion, unless we have some resolution on the weaponization account.鈥�
Senators issue ultimatum to Justice Department
The outrage of the fund at a closed-door meeting between senators and that Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas described on a recent episode of his podcast as 鈥渙ne of the roughest meetings I鈥檝e seen in my entire time in the Senate.鈥�
GOP senators had been discussing several ways that they could curb the fund, including limiting who can receive payouts, changing the makeup of the commission in charge of settlement decisions, adding some sort of judicial review for applicants or scrapping the fund altogether.
Amid the backlash, a person familiar with the matter, who insisted on anonymity to discuss the president鈥檚 thinking, said Monday that Trump was reconsidering whether to move forward with the fund. But the president has not said publicly what he intends to do.
Also complicating matters is Trump鈥檚 campaign-year push to defeat GOP lawmakers whom he sees as disloyal, including some of Thune鈥檚 most reliable Republican votes in the narrow 53-47 Senate. and both lost reelection bids in May after Trump endorsed their primary opponents, and it鈥檚 unclear how supportive they鈥檒l be of the president鈥檚 agenda going forward.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 hard to divorce anything that happens here from what鈥檚 happening in the political atmosphere around us,鈥� Thune said before the Senate left town.
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Associated Press writers Joey Cappelletti and Eric Tucker contributed to this report.
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