Donald Trump has expressed frustration with the Republican Party as it appears to be challenging his proposed $1.8 billion fund to support January 6 rioters.
“I sacrificed a lot of money to push forward the newly announced Anti-Weaponization Fund,” Trump shared on Truth Social on Friday.
“I am assisting those who were severely mistreated by a corrupt and weaponized Biden Administration to finally achieve JUSTICE!” he added.
The former president’s control over the Republican Party showed signs of weakening on Thursday evening when senators opted not to vote on a $70 billion funding proposal for ICE.
In a bold move, Speaker Mike Johnson did not attend a crucial meeting at the White House, marking a surprising act of defiance from one of Trump’s steadfast supporters.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche was lashed by senators in a two-hour closed door meeting on Capitol Hill about the fund for Trump’s prosecuted political allies, branded by Republicans a ‘galactic blunder’, ‘utterly stupid’ and ‘morally wrong.’
Senator John Thune, already fuming over Trump’s endorsement of Texas AG Ken Paxton over his ally John Cornyn, pulled the vote on ICE funding and sent lawmakers home until June 1.
The impasse leaves Trump facing one of the greatest crises over his control of the Republican Party of his second term in office, with the GOP racing to push through a stack of bills central to the President’s agenda before the November midterms.
A high-stakes White House summit with Speaker Mike Johnson and top GOP leaders was abruptly cancelled Thursday amid a deepening rift between the President and his own party over a $1.8 billion fund critics are openly denouncing as a ‘slush fund’
The vast majority of Senate Republicans, including normally reliable Trump loyalists like Senators Katie Britt and Tommy Tuberville, confronted Blanche with grave concerns that the fund could funnel taxpayer money to rioters who assaulted police officers on January 6 , 2021
Senate Majority Leader John Thune pulled the plug on the votes by sending lawmakers home until June 1
GOP senators also held a closed-door meeting with acting Attorney General Todd Blanche where even Trump’s most loyal foot soldiers, including Alabama’s Katie Britt and Tommy Tuberville, broke ranks to confront him.Â
Many lawmakers expressed outrage over the prospect of taxpayer money flowing to rioters who wounded police officers at the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Thune told reporters the White House ‘need to help with this issue, because we have a lot of members who are concerned.’
Thune’s public break is officially tied to the uproar over Trump’s so-called ‘slush fund’ to reward political allies who claim the Biden Justice Department targeted them.
But privately, sources say the majority leader is seething over Trump’s decision earlier this week to endorse Ken Paxton over Thune’s close ally, John Cornyn, in the Texas Senate GOP primary.
When asked if he was losing control of Senate Republican in the Oval Office earlier Thursday, Trump responded: ‘I really don’t know. I can tell you I only do what’s right.’
More than half of Senate Republicans privately raised concerns about the fund in the meeting with Blanche, including many who have yet to speak out publicly, sources familiar with the session said.
‘Do you really think that the American people like the president suing himself, basically, then making a deal that benefits himself with a broad immunity, for not just for IRS dealings but anything else?’ said out-going Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy.
The GOP Senate majority leader is seething over Trump’s decision earlier this week to endorse Ken Paxton over Thune’s close ally, John Cornyn, in the Texas Senate GOP primary
Utah Senator John Curtis said flatly: ‘I don’t like the fund at all.’
North Carolina’s Thom Tillis branded it a ‘payout pot for punks.’
Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin told CNN: ‘Somebody described it as a galactic blunder, and I think that’s probably true.’
Earlier this week, the Justice Department resolved a $10 billion lawsuit the President had brought against the agency by establishing a $1.8 billion fund for his political allies.
It was created to issue formal apologies and monetary relief owed to claimants who were subjected to ‘lawfare’ under the Biden administration.
More than 1,600 January 6 defendants pardoned by Trump are eligible to receive payments from the fund.
Two police officers who defended the US Capitol during the 2021 riot have sued Trump in a Washington, DC, district court to block the fund.