{"id":11512,"date":"2026-06-02T12:31:34","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T12:31:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=11512"},"modified":"2026-06-02T12:31:34","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T12:31:34","slug":"republican-senators-want-more-answers-on-1-8-billion-settlement-fund-as-trump-considers-its-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=11512","title":{"rendered":"Republican senators want more answers on $1.8 billion settlement fund as Trump considers its future"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By MARY CLARE JALONICK, KEVIN FREKING and SEUNG MIN KIM<\/strong><\/p>\n

WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 Senate Republicans will meet Tuesday to discuss next steps after the Justice Department said it would comply with a court order pausing the implementation of a $1.776 billion settlement fund designed to compensate President Donald Trump\u2019s political allies.<\/p>\n

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GOP senators who revolted against the settlement before leaving for a Memorial Day recess two weeks ago say they want more information from the administration about the future of the fund, which could potentially go to Trump supporters who beat police and attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Meanwhile, Trump is reconsidering whether to move forward with it at all, according to a person familiar with his thinking.<\/p>\n

Caught in the middle is legislation that would fund Trump\u2019s immigration enforcement agencies for three years. Republicans abruptly left town without passing it after Democrats said they would offer amendments to scrap or scale back the judgment fund, forcing Republicans to go on the record for or against it and endangering the money for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol.<\/p>\n

Returning to Washington on Monday evening, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he wasn\u2019t sure if the immigration spending bill would move this week.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be determined,\u201d he told reporters.<\/p>\n

The extraordinary standoff comes after Trump announced the fund with no heads up to lawmakers as part of a settlement to resolve his lawsuit against the IRS over the leak of his tax returns. When word of the settlement broke, the Senate was navigating tricky passage of the immigration legislation with an added $1 billion in White House security costs \u2014 including for Trump\u2019s ballroom project.<\/p>\n

Furious, Senate Republicans jettisoned the White House security money from the bill and made clear they would not pass the legislation at all unless the White House made major changes to the settlement.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI do think the best way to handle it is if the administration decides to shut it down themselves,\u201d Thune told reporters Monday, referring to the fund.<\/p>\n

He said Republicans will have a better idea of how to proceed after they meet for their weekly conference lunch on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Senators say they need more \u2018explicit\u2019 commitment<\/h4>\n

The Justice Department said it would comply with a ruling Friday from U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema, who temporarily halted the fund for two weeks. The judge scheduled a June 12 hearing for arguments on whether to extend her order.<\/p>\n

The department said in a statement that it strongly disagrees with the ruling but would comply.<\/p>\n

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Republican senators weren\u2019t satisfied. They said Monday evening that they need more detail from the administration on what happens after that deadline before deciding next steps.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s pretty clear that the president has to say very explicitly that there\u2019s not going to be a weaponization fund,\u201d said Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.<\/p>\n

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Oklahoma Sen. Jim Lankford said Trump administration officials \u201cneed to say what they actually mean.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey need to say, we\u2019re setting this whole thing aside,\u201d Lankford said.<\/p>\n

Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski said that if the settlement is \u201ccompletely pulled, then I\u2019m satisfied. But I haven\u2019t heard anybody say that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana said the administration already has to abide by the court decision, \u201cthat\u2019s in the Constitution. I have to know more about their position.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, the reconciliation bill looks like a broken arm with the bones sticking out,\u201d Kennedy said. \u201cIt won\u2019t move this week, in my opinion, unless we have some resolution on the weaponization account.\u201d<\/p>\n