{"id":2610348,"date":"2026-06-03T19:22:02","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T23:22:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/thune-navigates-immigration-bill-landmines-from-doj-lawfare-fund\/"},"modified":"2026-06-03T19:26:06","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T23:26:06","slug":"thune-navigates-immigration-bill-landmines-from-doj-lawfare-fund","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/thune-navigates-immigration-bill-landmines-from-doj-lawfare-fund\/","title":{"rendered":"Thune navigates immigration bill landmines from DOJ lawfare fund"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fthune-navigates-immigration-bill-landmines-from-doj-lawfare-fund%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2610348&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Republican leaders in the Senate are trying to calm internal anger over President Trump\u2019s proposed $1.<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trumps-anti-weaponization-fund-gets-cold-reception-from-gop-on-capitol-hill\/\" title=\"...&#039;s &#039;anti-weaponization&#039; ... gets cold reception from GOP on Capitol Hill\">776 billion \u201canti-weaponization\u201d fund<\/a>,which they worry could derail a major immigration enforcement bill moving toward final approval. Some GOP senators want reconciliation-bill language added to block the fund, arguing that without clearer action it may return through other legal pathways.<\/p>\n<p>The effort is unfolding during the vote-a-rama period ahead of a possible Thursday final vote. Senate Majority Leader John Thune says leadership will fight to defeat amendments that could undermine passage, noting Republicans can onyl afford a few defections to keep the bill on a party-line track. Senators Susan Collins, Thom Tillis, Lisa Murkowski, and Bill Cassidy are among those backing amendments to stop the fund, and Tillis says he will oppose the bill unless it blocks the DOJ-related reimbursement plan.<\/p>\n<p>While Republican leaders warn that weakening the bill to address the fund could raise the vote threshold and effectively doom final passage, Democrats are expected to <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >press politically sensitive amendment fights<\/a>, including on other Trump-related funding items that were cut or disputed. The administration has also offered inconsistent signals: the acting attorney general suggested the DOJ fund is permanently dead, but some Republicans say his explanations were not convincing, and Trump himself recently said he doesn\u2019t know whether the fund will ultimately be scrapped.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<article class=\"fn-body\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Senate GOP leaders are working to <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/4590449\/senate-republicans-anti-weaponization-fund-assurance\/\">quell Republican angst<\/a> over the Trump administration\u2019s proposed $1.776 billion <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/4593950\/trump-anti-weaponization-fund-future\/\">anti-weaponization fund<\/a> that is threatening to trip up the party\u2019s <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/4593536\/senate-republicans-drop-trump-ballroom-security-funding\/\">immigration enforcement bill<\/a> as it inches toward final passage.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Several Republicans still want language inserted into the so-called reconciliation bill to prevent the fund\u2019s creation as President Donald Trump and senior administration officials offer conflicting messages on whether the controversial Department of Justice reimbursement plan for alleged targets of Biden-era \u201clawfare\u201d is dead.<\/p>\n<section class=\"explore-more-section\" id=\"wex-recommended-widget\">\n<div class=\"magazine-container single\">\n<h1 class=\"magazine-title mt-2\">Recommended Stories<\/h1>\n<p>             <i class=\"fa-solid fa-play icon\"><\/i>         <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-grid\">\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/finance\/4593233\/trump-official-deletes-post-new-path-compensate-lawfare-victims\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Trump official deletes post suggesting new path to compensate victims of lawfare<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/4583796\/trump-dumpsters-garbage-lincoln-memorial-reflecting-pool\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Trump says 10 dumpsters full of garbage were taken out of Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/4579199\/watch-live-trump-swears-in-kevin-warsh-white-house\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>WATCH LIVE: Trump swears in Kevin Warsh at the White House<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But alterations to block the DOJ fund could jeopardize the GOP\u2019s ability to pass the $70 billion bill along party lines as early as Thursday. With a 53-47 majority, Republicans can afford but three defections on the filibuster-skirting measure to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gop-drops-trump-ballroom-security-money-from-immigration-bill\/\" title=\"GOP drops ... ballroom security money from immigration ...\">fund federal immigration agencies<\/a> through 2029.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe had a lot of conversations with our members and understand what\u2019s at stake and how critical it is that we defeat amendments that would be corrosive to the bill or undermine it in any way,\u201d Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Amendments from Republicans and Democrats are expected during a marathon voting session set to commence Thursday, known as vote-a-rama, an arduous part of the reconciliation process that allows either party to propose an unlimited number of amendments and can last more than a day.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), and Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) have expressed support for amendments that would thwart the fund.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYou want to make sure something\u2019s not just mostly dead,\u201d said Cassidy, who recently lost his primary to Trump-endorsed Rep. Julia Letlow (R-LA). \u201cYou want to make sure it\u2019s really dead. And I think we can make it really dead.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tillis, who will offer an amendment of his own, is going a step further. The retiring centrist is vowing to oppose final passage unless the DOJ fund is blocked.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI wouldn\u2019t support a bill that doesn\u2019t have that in there,\u201d Tillis said. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Responding to the warning, Thune said he\u2019ll \u201ccross that bridge when we get there.\u201d It was unclear whether others would also oppose the bill without blocking the fund.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In an attempt to diffuse GOP support for amendments, Republican leaders warn that approving one related to the fund would all but doom final passage along party lines. The change would not be germane to the underlying bill under strict reconciliation rules and raise the threshold from a simple majority to 60 votes. Leadership is optimistic they can thwart such amendments because they\u2019ll be set at 60-vote thresholds.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., joined from left by Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., and Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., speaks to reporters after a closed-door meeting with fellow Republicans, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, June 2, 2026. (AP Photo\/J. Scott Applewhite)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Still, Democrats hope to make the amendment votes as politically painful as possible for Republicans by targeting the fund and other hot-button concerns, such as $220 million in security for Trump\u2019s yet-to-be-built East Wing ballroom, which was <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/4593536\/senate-republicans-drop-trump-ballroom-security-funding\/\">scrapped from the bill<\/a>. The office of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said Democrats\u2019 plan is to \u201ckeep forcing Republicans to answer for their priorities: Trump\u2019s corrupt slush fund, his rogue police force, and his endless corruption \u2014 while Democrats fight to lower costs for American families.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Acting Attorney General\u00a0Todd Blanche sought to offer assurances that the DOJ was permanently nixing the fund that Democrats denounce as a \u201cslush fund\u201d to benefit Trump supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol. But his responses during testimony to a House committee this week were insufficient for several Republicans.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trump himself has also made matters more complicated for GOP leaders by saying he was unsure whether the fund, currently on hold by a federal judge pending an ongoing legal challenge, would be scrapped for good.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI\u2019d have to ask the lawyers,\u201d Trump told reporters Wednesday in the Oval Office. \u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A top DOJ official, Associate Attorney General\u00a0Stanley Woodward, <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/finance\/4593233\/trump-official-deletes-post-new-path-compensate-lawfare-victims\/\">deleted a social media post<\/a> Wednesday suggesting the\u00a0administration\u00a0was exploring an alternative way to provide compensation to those it believes were victims of unfair Biden-era criminal prosecutions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe only thing that gives it finality is what we can do in\u201d reconciliation, Tillis said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/4593536\/senate-republicans-drop-trump-ballroom-security-funding\/\">SENATE REPUBLICANS MAKE IT OFFICIAL AND CUT TRUMP BALLROOM FUNDING<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Over in the Republican-controlled House, where GOP leadership is operating on an even narrower margin, some members also desire preventing the fund\u2019s creation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI\u2019m not going to give anybody accolades for pulling back something that never should have been advanced to begin with,\u201d Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), co-chair of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>. He cited existing legal loopholes that the current or future administrations could use to \u201cexploit this situation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Hailey Bullis and David Sivak contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Senate GOP calms fears over Trump\u2019s $1.776B anti-weaponization fund blocking immigration bill\u2019s final push<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3108,"featured_media":2610349,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/AP26153716257591.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[7076,3813,16727,4762,23610],"class_list":["post-2610348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-doj","tag-immigration","tag-lawfare","tag-legislation","tag-thune"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/AP26153716257591.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2610348","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3108"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2610348"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2610348\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2610352,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2610348\/revisions\/2610352"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2610349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2610348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2610348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2610348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}