The anti-arms fund is selling the Senate GOP’s ICE reconciliation bill

Senate Republicans want a clear answer on whether Trump’s now-stalled, nearly $2 billion “anti-gun” fund is dead before moving forward with a multibillion-dollar enforcement package.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Monday announced that although the administration “strongly disagrees” with the Virginia federal court’s order against the fund, it will follow the decision. But many Republicans argue that is not enough to satisfy their concerns.

“I appreciate them saying that, but they don’t have a choice,” said Sen. John Kennedy, R-La. “They have to abide by the district court’s rule. It doesn’t tell me if they’re planning an appeal. It doesn’t tell me if the administration supports the idea — it doesn’t tell me anything, other than that they’re going to follow the law.”

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Also at the center of the intra-party battle is President Donald Trump’s roughly $70 billion in funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Border Patrol.

“If your question is, does the gun fund affect our ability to pass a reconciliation bill? The answer is yes,” Kennedy continued. “But right now, the reconciliation bill, and the process around it, looks like a broken arm with a bone sticking out.”

Senate Republicans abruptly halted budget reconciliation, the party’s process to finalize a spending package, after an explosive meeting with Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche about the fund last month.

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The general sentiment of Republicans is that the problem was for the administration and Trump to get it, given that many of the Democratic changes related to the fund could pass and change the package.

And what was meant to be a compromise, or at least a glimmer of hope to restart the process, didn’t sit well with Republicans.

“The only thing that’s going to solve this problem – to fund immigration and law enforcement – is for the president to end the weapons fund,” Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, told reporters.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, RS.D., said the DOJ’s announcement appears to indicate that the fund is closed, but negotiations among Republicans will take the next steps toward reconciliation.

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Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., argued that a third budget reconciliation package will not pass this year, adding that the upcoming immigration-focused bill is “the last train leaving the station” before the November midterm elections. (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Still, he acknowledged that Republicans want more answers from the administration.

“Well, I think anything they say in addition to what the DOJ said is helpful, but, I mean, I think the statement they made is closing,” Thune said.

Some Republicans do not agree at all with the idea of ​​a compensation fund for people who have been wronged or targeted by the government, but argue that the way the fund is managed is what matters.

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., broadly supports compensation funds, such as his Radiation Protection Compensation Act signed into law last year, but said the question was “how do you behave?”

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“My view on that is, you can clarify those details in a way that will reward the victims,” ​​Hawley said. “I mean that’s the main thing.”

Some are ready to continue the fight and feel that the DOJ’s announcement is enough to quell concerns among colleagues.

Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., said it’s “an important point right now.”

“I think it’s important that we move forward with funding for ICE and CBP,” Schmitt said. “There is, we have to do that. The Democrats have been blocking that, so, in my opinion, it’s an important point.”