Senate Republicans on Thursday voted 49-50 to defeat a Democratic amendment that would have blocked President Donald Trump from using a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund to pay financial settlements to allies, including people connected to the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. The vote stretched for three hours as groups of senators huddled on the chamber floor, drawing attention to the deepening rift within the Republican Party over the proposal.
Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer had proposed inserting language barring the payouts into Republican-backed legislation that would fund Trump’s mass deportation campaign through the remainder of his term. The amendment failed on a near-party-line vote, with three Republican senators — Susan Collins of Maine, Dan Sullivan of Alaska, and Jon Husted of Ohio — breaking ranks to support it.
Collins, the only Republican senator representing a state won by Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election, joined Sullivan and Husted in backing Schumer’s measure. All three are considered top Democratic targets in the November midterm elections. A Fox News poll released Wednesday showed Husted trailing his Democratic challenger, former Senator Sherrod Brown, by eight percentage points.
Though Schumer’s amendment failed, the matter is likely to resurface before Congress. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told lawmakers earlier this week that the administration would not move forward with the fund. But Schumer said a mere assurance was insufficient and called on Congress to pass a law permanently blocking the money from being spent.
The dispute has complicated efforts by Senate Republicans to pass a broader bill funding Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection — agencies Trump has tasked with implementing his hardline immigration policies. Members of both parties have raised concerns about the fund’s structure and purpose.
MSI previously reported that the fund faced mounting legal and political opposition, with multiple lawsuits filed to block potential payouts. Acting Attorney General Blanche had initially declined to rule out compensation for violent participants in the January 6 attack during a May 19 Senate hearing.
In related developments Thursday, three scientific papers that raised questions about vaccine safety and were used by the Trump administration to justify changes to U.S. vaccine policies have been retracted, removed, or placed under investigation by the journals that published them, according to reports. Former Attorney General Pam Bondi testified that Todd Blanche, whom Trump has tapped to replace her as attorney general, was “in charge” of the Justice Department’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case. Trump also suggested that his ally Bill Pulte, appointed acting director of national intelligence earlier this week, would investigate “rigged elections,” continuing his pattern of making unfounded allegations about voting.