Congressional Republicans hoped to pass a bill to fund ICE for three years by the end of this week, but that plan faltered over disagreements with President Trump.
JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Congress is leaving town for a weeklong recess. They won’t be back until after President Trump’s June 1 deadline to fund immigration enforcement for the next three years. Two issues seem to be at the root of this delay – Trump’s push for money for Secret Service security for his ballroom project and a nearly $2 billion fund to pay people he says have been victimized by a weaponized government. NPR congressional reporter Eric McDaniel is here with more. Hi there.
ERIC MCDANIEL, BYLINE: Hi, Juana.
SUMMERS: So, Eric, just for starters, what does this immigration funding have to do with the ballroom or this so-called Anti-Weaponization Fund?
MCDANIEL: You know, it’s a good question. I’m glad you asked. The answer is basically nothing. Republicans in both chambers were ready to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol for the next three years, to take those agencies off of the political battlefield for the rest of Trump’s time in the White House after a record-setting shutdown earlier this year. But Trump kept making other demands. For example, taxpayer money for ballroom security, like you mentioned – a billion dollars for a project the president said would be funded through private donations.
SUMMERS: And what about this $1.8 billion government weaponization fund?
MCDANIEL: Yeah. The fund out of the Department of Justice – nearly $2 billion – meant to pay folks who’ve been victimized by the government. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told Congress that might include people who attacked lawmakers and police on January 6, 2021, as President Trump tried to remain in power despite losing the 2020 presidential election. As you might imagine, that upset some folks, which, when both chambers have nearly the smallest majorities you could have, is a problem because those lawmakers can vote against anything or everything until they get some concessions.
SUMMERS: And were Republicans speaking out on this publicly before this all fell apart?
MCDANIEL: Yeah. They were speaking out. I’ll give you some quotes. Senator Lisa Murkowski, to me and some other reporters on Thursday, on the fund – quote, “I don’t like it.” Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune was asked about it during a press conference in front of the Senate chamber yesterday. Quote, “I think that there are and will be a lot of questions about that that the administration is going to have to answer.”
And it’s worth noting, those are all lawmakers who are planning on sticking around. There are others – including Senator Thom Tillis, Senator Bill Cassidy, Representative Thomas Massie – all with scores to settle with the president. And Thune has said publicly, this delay is in connection with the fund. And I imagine a Democratic amendment targeting the fund could have gotten enough support to pass
SUMMERS: If this fund is so unpopular with the Republicans who are in power on Capitol Hill and control how taxpayer money is spent, how did it come to be?
MCDANIEL: The president made it up. Article 1 of the Constitution gives Congress the power to direct how taxpayer dollars are spent. That didn’t happen here at all. And this isn’t the first time the president moved money around to meet payroll during the DHS shutdown and to pay members of the military during an earlier shutdown.
I spoke with Gerard Magliocca, a constitutional scholar, distinguished professor at Indiana University’s law school. He told me that, yeah, the president self-allocating new pots of money to spend without congressional approval is illegal. The 14th Amendment also has a provision that bans using government money to pay debts to insurrectionists. Magliocca said that since we’ve never been in this situation before, he needs to do some more thinking on whether that provision would also apply here.
SUMMERS: So, Eric, what happens next?
MCDANIEL: Well, now it’s Memorial Day weekend. That means Congress is back home, going to parades, meeting with constituents, raising money, all the rest. Part of that is hearing about the high price of gas, the difficulty of finding a new job and continued spending on a very unpopular war with Iran. Then when Congress gets back in early June, they have to decide on a path forward. Asked this morning whether Trump was losing control of Senate Republicans, the president himself said, quote, “I really don’t know. I can tell you I only do what’s right.”
SUMMERS: NPR Congressional reporter Eric McDaniel, thank you.
MCDANIEL: Thank you, Juana.
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