Senate GOP delays vote on reconciliation bill amid opposition to DOJ fund, White House ballroom

Washington — Senate Republicans said they will not be voting on a reconciliation package to fund the Department of Homeland Security’s immigration agencies on Thursday, delaying consideration of the measure in the face of opposition to the Justice Department’s new “anti-weaponization” fund and security funding tied to the White House ballroom. 

Senate Republicans’ $72 billion package hit a snag when members in both chambers began voicing concerns about the inclusion of $1 billion in Secret Service security funding, including for the president’s East Wing Modernization Project that features plans for a massive ballroom. Senators told reporters earlier in the week that they expected the Secret Service funding to be stripped from the broader package.

But the Justice Department’s announcement of the new $1.776 billion fund to compensate those who say they were unfairly targeted by the government threw a new wrench in the plans, and proved too much for some GOP senators to stomach. Several senators emerged from a meeting with acting Attorney General Todd Blanche without commenting.

GOP leaders had been aiming to kick off a marathon vote series before final passage of the reconciliation package Thursday night. But senators told reporters that would no longer happen, and the chamber would adjourn for the Memorial Day recess.

House Speaker Mike Johnson had planned to head to the White House to discuss the path forward, but the meeting was canceled after any action in the Senate stalled, according to a source familiar with the plans. The House had been expected to remain in town on Friday to approve the package if the Senate passed it, but the lower chamber now plans to head home after unrelated votes Thursday. President Trump has set a June 1 deadline to get the legislation to his desk. 

Blanche met with Senate Republicans for nearly two hours, trying to get skeptical members on board with the Justice Department’s new fund. The fund was established as part of a settlement of a suit by Mr. Trump against the IRS. Pro-Trump allies, including those charged for their involvement in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, have said they are eager to submit claims.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters earlier this week that he is “not a big fan” of the anti-weaponization fund, and Republicans have been weighing avenues for placing guardrails around it. When asked about the specific provisions members were seeking heading into the meeting, Thune said “we’ll find out.”

GOP Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, the top appropriator in the Senate who has expressed opposition to the DOJ fund, told CBS News as she left the meeting that she did not feel better about it. 

Ultimately, the prospect of being forced to vote on Democratic amendments on the fund as part of the reconciliation process doomed hopes of quickly passing the overall package.

The DOJ fund and ballroom money are also facing pushback in the House. 

In a letter to Blanche on Wednesday, GOP Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania expressed “urgent concern” about the anti-weaponization fund, saying it “represents a dangerous backsliding in the transparency of our institutions and our commitment to the American taxpayer.” 

Fitzpatrick has also said he will not support funding for the ballroom. 

House lawmakers have votes scheduled for 4:30 p.m., and they had been advised that votes related to reconciliation were possible later in the evening, before the Senate changed its plans. 

Some House Republicans were already open to pushing a vote past the Memorial Day recess. 

“If they drag their feet, there’s no reason we have to do it before the Memorial Day break. We can do it when we come back,” GOP Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland, the chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, told reporters as he left Johnson’s office Thursday afternoon. 

“There’s no emergency about moving it by June 1, except the president has thrown it out there,” Harris said.