US Senate Republicans delay vote on Trump immigration funding amid backlash

Senate Republicans in the United States have postponed a vote on funding for immigration enforcement operations ahead of a long holiday weekend, in a rare display of political pushback against President Donald Trump.

On Thursday, the Republican-led chamber had planned to vote on a $72bn funding bill intended to support Trump’s mass deportation campaign.

But two recent decisions by the Trump administration prompted resistance from within the president’s own party.

The first was a newly unveiled “anti-weaponisation” fund that the Trump administration announced on Monday as part of a lawsuit settlement.

Trump had sued the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), a part of his own government, over the actions of a contractor who leaked his tax refunds around 2019.

Critics say the lawsuit posed a conflict of interest, as Trump was empowered to resolve the complaint by negotiating with his own appointees.

Monday’s settlement set aside nearly $1.776bn to compensate recipients deemed to have been treated unfairly by the government — an “anti-weaponisation” fund that opponents say would serve as a cash cow for Trump’s supporters.

Senate Republicans summoned acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to Capitol Hill on Thursday to question his decision to approve the settlement, which draws from Justice Department funds that ordinarily require no congressional approval.

Nebraska Senator Don Bacon later indicated to reporters that the issue had eroded Trump’s Republican backing.

“He’s lost some support in the Senate,” Bacon said, responding to Trump’s lawsuit. “He’s the plaintiff and the boss of the defendants. So just on the surface, it smells.”

Senator Thom Tillis, another Republican, likewise denounced the “anti-weaponisation” fund. Tillis, who is not seeking re-election in November’s heated midterm elections after clashing with Trump, told Spectrum News: “I think it’s stupid on stilts. The American people are going to reject this out of hand.”

Another source of pushback was Trump’s request for $1bn in funds to build a White House ballroom.

Trump had previously pledged that no taxpayer funds would be needed to complete the ballroom, but in recent weeks he pushed to add the $1bn price tag to the immigration enforcement bill, arguing the ballroom was necessary for national security.

On Wednesday, the Senate’s Republican leadership indicated the ballroom tab would no longer be included.

Had it remained, the ballroom funds would have prevented Republicans from using budget reconciliation — a special legislative process that requires only a simple majority — to pass the immigration enforcement bill.

“It was something that was supposed to be very narrow, targeted, focused, clean, straightforward, and it got a little bit more complicated this week,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said of the bill and its add-on. “It makes everything way harder than it should be.”

The Senate will return from its recess in June. Thune indicated his party would “pick up where we left off” after the break.

Separately, the Republican leadership in the House of Representatives cancelled a vote on a war powers resolution designed to force Trump to seek congressional approval for the US-Israeli war against Iran.

A similar bill had passed the Senate earlier this week, and the House was expected to hold its own vote on Thursday afternoon. That vote has now been delayed until June, after the Memorial Day recess.

Democrats accused Republicans of political maneuvering.

“We had the votes without question, and they knew it,” Representative Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told reporters after the vote was cancelled.