If President Donald Trump wants the Senate to pass an immigration enforcement package, he’ll have to give up his ill-advised “anti-weaponization” fund. That’s a trade-off the White House wisely accepted.
On Monday, Senate Republicans put on hold efforts to pass a $70 billion funding package for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol through the budget reconciliation process, which requires only a majority vote. The move was an effort to pressure the president to give up his plan to use his $1.776 billion settlement with the IRS as an account that would pay off those he believes have been victimized by political prosecutions, including, presumably, participants in the Jan. 6 riots at the Capitol.
The fund has constitutional and separation of powers problems — Trump essentially reached the settlement with himself, given that, as president, he oversees the IRS, and the process of awarding victims would have no judicial oversight. Last week, a federal judge temporarily paused the implementation of the fund, and Justice Department officials said they would abide by the court ruling.
Senate Republicans remained apprehensive.
“I appreciate them saying that, but they don’t have a choice,” Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., told Fox News. “They have to abide by federal district court law. It doesn’t tell me whether they’re planning on appeal. It doesn’t tell me whether the administration’s backing off the idea — it doesn’t tell me anything, except they’re gonna follow the law.” He wasn’t done: “If your question is, is the weaponization fund impacting our ability to pass the reconciliation bill? The answer is yes.”
Chuck Grassley, the Iowa Republican, was even more blunt. “The only thing that’s gonna solve this problem — to get immigration funded and law enforced — is for the president to do away with the weaponization fund,” he told reporters.
On Tuesday, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told a House committee that the fund was not “moving forward.”
Good. The fund made it easier for Democrats to delay the immigration bill by adding amendments to the legislation intended to force uncomfortable GOP votes. Republicans were correct to push the president to take the issue off the table altogether, for obvious reasons.
Mr. Trump correctly heeded their call. The fund is constitutionally dubious and created a needless controversy for the GOP heading into the midterm elections while boosting Democratic momentum. It threatened to undermine the president’s immigration agenda in the Senate. The White House was wise to move on.
