*** growing number of Senate Republicans are becoming more frustrated over two things funding for the president’s ballroom and *** newly announced anti-weaponization fund. On Thursday, Republicans left Washington without voting on an immigration enforcement funding bill after the Trump administration tried pushing lawmakers to include $1 billion in security money for the White House and the ballroom. Now *** larger issue boiling over is this nearly 1.8. billion dollars anti-weaponization fund announced by the Justice Department to compensate people who say they were politically targeted by the government. Some Republicans are pushing back against the use of these taxpayer funds and questioning why people prosecuted for their involvement in the January 6th riot could apply for the money. These people don’t deserve restitution. Many of them deserve to be in prison. Some of them deserve the pardon because they were overprosecuted. But this is, uh, I mean this is just stupid on stilts. We’ll do everything we can to stop this slush fund, whether it’s in the courts, whether it’s legislative, whether it’s through reconciliation or any other legislative means. On Thursday afternoon, *** bipartisan bill was introduced in the House to shut down this anti-weaponization fund on Capitol Hill. I’m Rachel Hirsheimer.

‘This is just stupid on stilts’: Growing number of Republicans voicing frustration over anti-weaponization fund

Senate Republicans left Washington without voting on a $71.7 billion immigration enforcement funding bill, citing frustrations over additional funding requests for a White House ballroom and an anti-weaponization fund.

Updated: 8:00 AM CDT May 22, 2026

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Senate Republicans left Washington on Thursday for a weeklong recess without voting on a party-line $71.7 billion immigration enforcement funding bill, as frustrations grow over unrelated initiatives the Trump administration expects Republicans to support. Republicans protest ballroom moneyThe White House had been pressuring Republicans to find a way to include $1 billion for President Donald Trump’s ballroom project in the partisan bill. The Secret Service says most of the money would go toward enhancing security and training at the White House complex. About $220 million would be spent on fortifying the ballroom. Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough ruled last week that the ballroom funding language was too broad and could not be included in the bill in a way that would require only Republican votes. On Wednesday, Trump posted to social media calling for the firing of MacDonough. Republicans were trying to rework the proposal so they could approve the funding on a party-line basis, but on Wednesday, amid faltering support from within their own ranks, they appeared to drop the effort. Lawmakers have not publicly released an updated draft of the bill as of Friday morning.Ballroom money added to immigration enforcement billThe main bill is a roughly $71.7 billion proposal to restore funding to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol. It would fund these agencies through the end of the Trump administration, creating roughly $70 billion in new debt, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Republicans drafted the bill after talks with Democrats to place new guardrails on the Trump administration’s controversial immigration enforcement tactics failed.Republicans revolt over anti-weaponization fundOn Thursday, an increasing number of GOP lawmakers expressed concern about a $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund announced by the Justice Department to compensate individuals who claim they were politically targeted by the government. Though the fund is open to all, some have suggested it could benefit supporters of the president and those connected to his now-dismissed criminal cases to overturn the 2020 election and steal classified documents.Senate Republicans have been most vocal about using the taxpayer funds, which would allow individuals prosecuted for their involvement in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot to apply for those funds. On the first day of his second term, President Trump pardoned or commuted all defendants connected to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, several hundred in all.”These people don’t deserve restitution. Many of them deserve to be in prison. Some of them deserve the pardon because they were overprosecuted, but this is, I mean, this is just stupid on stilts,” said Sen. Thom Tillis, R-North Carolina. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, also criticized the fund, saying, “We’ll do everything we can to stop this slush fund, whether it’s in the courts, whether it’s legislative, whether it’s through reconciliation or any other legislative means.” On Thursday afternoon, a bipartisan bill was introduced in the House to shut down the anti-weaponization fund.Keep watching for the latest from the Washington News Bureau:

WASHINGTON —

Senate Republicans left Washington on Thursday for a weeklong recess without voting on a party-line $71.7 billion immigration enforcement funding bill, as frustrations grow over unrelated initiatives the Trump administration expects Republicans to support.

Republicans protest ballroom money

The White House had been pressuring Republicans to find a way to include $1 billion for President Donald Trump’s ballroom project in the partisan bill. The Secret Service says most of the money would go toward enhancing security and training at the White House complex. About $220 million would be spent on fortifying the ballroom. Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough ruled last week that the ballroom funding language was too broad and could not be included in the bill in a way that would require only Republican votes. On Wednesday, Trump posted to social media calling for the firing of MacDonough.

Republicans were trying to rework the proposal so they could approve the funding on a party-line basis, but on Wednesday, amid faltering support from within their own ranks, they appeared to drop the effort.

Lawmakers have not publicly released an updated draft of the bill as of Friday morning.

Ballroom money added to immigration enforcement bill

The main bill is a roughly $71.7 billion proposal to restore funding to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol. It would fund these agencies through the end of the Trump administration, creating roughly $70 billion in new debt, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Republicans drafted the bill after talks with Democrats to place new guardrails on the Trump administration’s controversial immigration enforcement tactics failed.

Republicans revolt over anti-weaponization fund

On Thursday, an increasing number of GOP lawmakers expressed concern about a $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund announced by the Justice Department to compensate individuals who claim they were politically targeted by the government. Though the fund is open to all, some have suggested it could benefit supporters of the president and those connected to his now-dismissed criminal cases to overturn the 2020 election and steal classified documents.

Senate Republicans have been most vocal about using the taxpayer funds, which would allow individuals prosecuted for their involvement in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot to apply for those funds. On the first day of his second term, President Trump pardoned or commuted all defendants connected to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, several hundred in all.

“These people don’t deserve restitution. Many of them deserve to be in prison. Some of them deserve the pardon because they were overprosecuted, but this is, I mean, this is just stupid on stilts,” said Sen. Thom Tillis, R-North Carolina.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, also criticized the fund, saying, “We’ll do everything we can to stop this slush fund, whether it’s in the courts, whether it’s legislative, whether it’s through reconciliation or any other legislative means.”

On Thursday afternoon, a bipartisan bill was introduced in the House to shut down the anti-weaponization fund.

Keep watching for the latest from the Washington News Bureau: