WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� Senate Republican leaders are expected to abandon a proposal for $1 billion in security money for the White House complex and on Thursday after members of their own party questioned the timing and the lack of detail in the Secret Service request.
Pressured by the White House, Republicans have tried to add the money to a roughly to restore funding to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol. But the security proposal met with backlash from some GOP lawmakers who are questioning the cost and how the taxpayer dollars would be used.
The bill鈥檚 text has not yet been released, but the Senate hopes to pass it this week and send it to the House before leaving for a weeklong Memorial Day recess. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., acknowledged 鈥渙ngoing vote issues鈥� on Wednesday as leaders tired to measure Republican support, as well as 鈥渙ngoing parliamentarian issues鈥� as they try to figure out what will be allowed in the bill under the chamber鈥檚 rules.
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said Wednesday that the bill would be 鈥渂ack to square one鈥� without the security money because 鈥渢he votes are not there.鈥�
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said the effort to add the security package to the bill was a 鈥渂ad idea鈥� and he does not think there is enough backing to pass it, even if the cost were reduced.
The wrangling comes as Democrats have criticized Republicans for trying to fund Trump鈥檚 ballroom when voters are concerned about basic affordability issues 鈥� and as some GOP lawmakers have grown increasingly frustrated with Trump. Several GOP senators have spoken out against the administration鈥檚 designed to compensate Trump鈥檚 allies who believe they have been persecuted, and many were upset by the president鈥檚 in the party primary runoff next week against Sen. John Cornyn.
鈥淭here鈥檚 always a consequence with taking on United States senators,鈥� Thune said Wednesday. The president 鈥渙bviously has his favorites and people he wants to endorse and that鈥檚 his prerogative. But what we have to deal with up here is moving the agenda, and obviously that can become slightly more complicated.鈥�
Republicans could set parameters on Trump’s settlement fund
The 鈥渁nti-weaponization” fund, part of a settlement that resolves Trump鈥檚 over the leak of his tax returns, has unexpectedly become one of the main complications in the bill. Democrats said they would force votes to block it or place restrictions on it.
Democrats have an opening because Republicans are trying to pass the immigration enforcement bill through a complicated budget process that requires a long series of amendment votes. Democrats are considering multiple amendments, potentially to block that new fund outright or to ban any payments to Trump supporters who in the .
Those amendments, along with others, could pass as a growing number of Republicans have voiced reservations about the fund. So Republicans are now discussing their own last-minute additions to head that off, potentially placing some parameters on the settlement and who could receive compensation, according to two people with knowledge of the private discussions who requested anonymity to discuss them.
Thune 鈥� who said Tuesday that he is 鈥渘ot a big fan鈥� of the settlement and doesn’t see a purpose for it 鈥�- said Wednesday that any new language potentially putting restrictions on the settlement is 鈥渁 work in progress.”
It’s unclear how any Senate Republican changes would be received in the House, even as some Republicans there have also criticized the settlement.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said Wednesday that the House will pass the bill 鈥渨hatever form it takes.鈥�
Tensions rise between Senate and White House
As Republicans challenged the settlement and parts of his agenda, Trump unloaded on the Senate in a social media post.
He urged Republicans to fire the Senate parliamentarian, , who said over the weekend that . Trump also renewed his long-standing calls for the Senate to pass the SAVE Act, a Republican bill that would require all voters to prove U.S. citizenship, and to end the Senate filibuster.
Republicans need to 鈥済et smart and tough,” Trump said, or 鈥測ou鈥檒l all be looking for a job much sooner than you thought possible!鈥�
While they have been loyal to Trump on most issues, Senate Republicans have resisted his repeated calls 鈥� even in his first term 鈥� to kill the filibuster, which triggers a 60-vote threshold in the Senate.
Hanging over the growing GOP rift is Trump鈥檚 surprise endorsement of Paxton. That intervention has Republican senators privately fuming that it could cost them their majority in November as they view the incumbent, Cornyn, as the better candidate in the November general election.
Secret Service request falters as Republicans want more detail
Under the would fund security improvements related to the ballroom. The rest would go for a new screening center for visitors, training and other security measures.
Tillis said the bill should not have included the other security improvements 鈥渂ecause it鈥檚 just giving everybody the 鈥榖illion-dollar ballroom.'”
Several other Republicans in the House and Senate have questioned the request, and senators left a briefing with the director of the Secret Service last week saying they needed a lot more information.
People 鈥渃an鈥檛 afford groceries and gasoline and healthcare, and we鈥檙e going to do a billion dollars for a ballroom?鈥� asked Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, who after Trump endorsed one of his opponents.
Left in the bill is the money for ICE and Border Patrol, which Democrats have blocked for months in protest of the Trump administration’s .
Democrats for the agencies, but negotiations with the White House yielded little progress. So Republicans are 鈥� the same process that allowed them to last year 鈥� to fund the agencies through the end of Trump’s term with a simple majority and no Democratic votes.
Still, passage requires signoff from the parliamentarian and unity from Republicans.
鈥淲e’re working on it,鈥� Thune said as he left the Capitol on Wednesday evening.
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Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro and Stephen Groves contributed to this report.
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