Sen. John Curtis breaks with party, votes to dismantle Trump's anti-weaponization fund

WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans overcame their first major obstacle in the fight to advance the party's immigration funding bill, swatting down an effort by Democrats to rewrite the legislation with language permanently banning President Donald Trump's anti-weaponization fund.

But they've still got a ways to go before they can quell growing unrest among GOP ranks.

Utah Sen. John Curtis bucked party lines to support a proposal that would officially dismantle the anti-weaponization fund from the Justice Department. The fund would allow individuals to be compensated if they feel they have been unfairly targeted by the federal government — particularly Trump's allies.

Curtis joined a handful of other Republicans to vote in favor of an amendment that would prohibit federal funds from being used in the fund, seeking assurances that the Trump administration would not reverse course to revive the fund at a later date. The amendment ultimately failed to pass in a 15-84 vote after Democrats accused Republicans of adding language to divert the funds to prevent fraud, which they said would "hand Trump and Vance $1.7B in new money."

"I don't understand that," Curtis said. "You either like the fund or you don't like the fund. And as you know I have not liked the fund from the beginning, and I was somewhat placated with it being nearly dead, but (supported) giving a chance to make it dead dead."

Because the amendment failed, the language will not be attached to the underlying immigration funding bill.

Earlier in the day, the Senate voted 49-50 on an amendment brought forward by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to send the funding package back to the Judiciary Committee to include that language in the final bill — falling short of the simple majority threshold needed to advance.

The effort set off an all-out blitz by Republican leadership to keep party members in line, especially as a number of GOP senators want to see the fund nixed themselves.

Had it passed, the entire funding bill would be sent back to the drawing board.

Republican leaders held the vote open for three hours as they courted senators on the floor, particularly those demanding guardrails on the Justice Department's $1.78 billion anti-weaponization fund that was announced last month to compensate individuals who say they were targeted by the federal government.

In the end, three Republican senators voted with Democrats to kill the fund: Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Jon Husted of Ohio, and Dan Sullivan of Alaska. All three are in competitive races in November.

Republican leaders spent the three hours convincing Sen. Bill Cassidy, who staunchly opposes the DOJ fund, to kill the Democratic amendment. Ultimately Cassidy, who lost his primary and is not up for reelection, agreed.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told lawmakers earlier this week that the fund would be "off the table" in an attempt to get Republicans on board with the immigration bill — but some GOP senators are looking for a more permanent solution.

Retiring Sen. Thom Tillis as well as Cassidy have already filed amendments to nix the so-called "anti-weaponization fund," which could garner substantial support within GOP circles.

Curtis is among those who have publicly criticized the fund, and expressed a willingness to consider legislative language to rein it in.

The marathon voting session, known as a vote-a-rama, began just after 10 a.m. on Thursday, kick-starting a process where lawmakers in both parties can force votes on an unlimited number of amendments. Democrats are expected to use the marathon session to their advantage, forcing their Republican colleagues into a corner on tough votes that can later be used as campaign fodder.

Republican leaders will need to wrangle their party members in between amendment votes to keep everyone on the same page, working with just a three-vote margin to pass the immigration funding bill on a partisan basis.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has warned against supporting those amendments, voicing concerns that language eliminating the DOJ fund risks its final passage. If it does pass with that language, there are concerns that President Donald Trump could veto the entire package.

"The goal is to get the base bill across the finish line, and so hopefully all of our members who have amendment ideas will ... keep in mind the need that we've got to keep the bill together and make sure we've got 50 votes for it at the end," Thune said on Wednesday.

Read the full story at Deseret News.

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