Congress returns to Washington with a long to-do list, including disentangling immigration enforcement funding from the President’s weaponization fund.
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
An immigration detention facility in New Jersey is at the center of demonstrations against President Trump’s deportation efforts. There’s now a curfew keeping protesters half a mile away from the site, where they say detainees are being mistreated. In just a few minutes, we’ll hear from New Jersey Senator Cory Booker. He’s one of the lawmakers returning from a holiday break to a Congress with a long to-do list.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Republicans want to approve funding for immigration enforcement for the rest of Trump’s term. That would be insurance against Republicans losing power to Democrats in Congress who would not vote for so much money. But the funding measure that Trump wants is stuck because of something Trump did. He claimed the power to give taxpayer money to people who claim the federal government targeted them, including Trump supporters who attacked the Capitol.
MARTÍNEZ: Eric McDaniel reports on Congress for us. So, Eric, how did immigration funding and the president’s nearly $2 billion antiweaponization fund get all mixed together like this?
ERIC MCDANIEL, BYLINE: Well, in order to pass something on a party-line vote in the Senate procedurally, you’ve got to let the minority party – in this case, Democrats – propose a lot of amendments to the bill. And those amendments can be on, well, I guess, whatever Democrats want. So for the three-year immigration enforcement bill, Democrats are going to propose amendments that put their Republican peers on the record about this antiweaponization fund.
It became clear, though, that an amendment outlawing the fund could get, like, 30 Republican votes, probably, which would be embarrassing for Republicans. So GOP leaders pushed the vote on the package to this week. But President Trump hasn’t backed down on the fund in the time they were at home, and I’m just going to say it doesn’t seem like waiting has made things any easier. Some lawmakers are also angry that the president allocated this money in the first place. He did it unilaterally, even though it is, of course, Congress’ job to decide how taxpayer dollars are spent.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah. And then, Eric, there’s another sticking point, and that’s been votes over the Iran war.
MCDANIEL: Right. Folks might remember the Senate actually advanced a measure that would force an end to the conflict, which is driving up the cost of living and very unpopular among the American public. In part, that’s because the president keeps making enemies of Senate Republicans. Trump backed a primary opponent against Louisiana’s Bill Cassidy. And after Cassidy lost his re-election race, he joined with Democrats in their effort to force an end to the war. The House of Representatives actually delayed a vote on a Democratic War Powers Resolution after it looked like Republican absences meant it would have passed.
But all of this, of course, is mostly symbolic. The president can veto any of these resolutions that reach his desk. But I should also say the Constitution does give Congress the power to declare war and regulate military conflicts, and Trump is legally required to get their approval in order to continue his war. That has not happened.
MARTÍNEZ: And just a guess. I imagine the political dynamics only get a lot more difficult as we get closer to November and the general election.
MCDANIEL: You know, A, that’s a good guess. For one, the president’s…
MARTÍNEZ: Thank you.
MCDANIEL: …GOP lawmaker enemies list continues to swell. He pushed out not just Cassidy but also Senator John Cornyn, Representative Thomas Massie out of their seats. So for Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, who has effectively a one-vote majority because of what we’re told is a long-term medical absence among one of his members, that means Massie could decide to sink any vote he chooses. And as we move out of primary races where party voters matter the most and into general election season where all voters matter, midterm headwinds are only going to blow stronger. There are so few races, though, that are actually competitive. Maybe 25. But with majorities this narrow, you only need a few seats to flip for Capitol Hill to just be turned upside down.
MARTÍNEZ: That’s NPR’s Eric McDaniel. Eric, thanks.
MCDANIEL: Thank you.
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