Senate Republican leaders abruptly delayed a planned vote Thursday on a $72 billion reconciliation package to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection after multiple GOP senators broke with the Trump administration over a separate, newly announced $1.776 billion fund described as compensating Americans who claim they were targeted by government weaponization. The vote, which had been expected to pass late Thursday or early Friday before a Memorial Day recess, was pulled after several Republican senators indicated they were prepared to support Democratic-led amendments to block the payout fund.

The conflict came to a head during a two-hour closed-door meeting between Senate Republicans and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, which multiple sources described as chaotic. Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota told reporters the administration had not consulted him before rolling out the fund, saying it would have been nice if they had. Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said the administration had dropped a bomb in the middle of a carefully planned legislative effort, and Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina called the fund a payout pot for punks, saying many potential recipients deserved prison rather than restitution. Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, typically a reliable Trump ally, called the fund's timing a galactic blunder.

The anti-weaponization fund was announced this week as part of a settlement between President Trump, two of his sons, the Trump Organization, and the federal government over the leak of Trump's tax returns. Under the agreement, Trump dropped legal claims in exchange for the creation of the fund. The Justice Department said five commissioners would be appointed within 30 days to oversee disbursements, with Acting Attorney General Blanche selecting the commissioners and the president retaining the power to remove them at will. Applications are already being submitted despite no commissioners having been named and no formal application process yet in place.

Both parties have criticized the fund, with opponents labeling it a slush fund benefiting Trump allies, donors, and participants in the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack. Legal challenges have already been filed, and the Justice Department's own overview acknowledged that disbursements could be tied up in courts past the 2028 deadline by which all funds must be distributed. The administration circulated a one-page memo to Republican senators Thursday outlining the fund's purpose, but senators and aides said it failed to address their core objections. Thune said the Senate would resume work on the ICE and Border Patrol funding package when members return from recess, though the path forward remains uncertain.