Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche had a rough time on Thursday when he faced Senate Republicans over Trump’s $1.8 billion fund to compensate MAGA allies, including January 6 rioters.
GOP lawmakers were definitive in their stance that a budget reconciliation bill to fund immigration enforcement would not go through until their issues with the “anti-weaponization” fund are allayed.
According to sources familiar with the meeting, one of the most significant concerns was that Blanche failed to unequivocally rule out the possibility of those involved in the January 6 riot on Capitol Hill could receive payments. He pushed back against the lawmakers’ calls to narrow eligibility for payments, deepening their frustration.
“It was a screaming fest,” an unnamed Republican senator said noting that the meeting wasn’t just about the fund, but how the idea is one of a longer list of problems the party will face leading up to the midterm elections.
“The fund is an issue, but it turned into a general airing of grievances, like the administration’s priorities keep shifting,” said the source. “There’s also been a lack of communication between the Hill and the executive on a number of issues.”
Republican lawmakers also discussed allowing Congress to oversee the appointment of the commissioners that are expected to act as administrators of the fund. This was also something that Blanche reportedly refused to bend on, according to sources with direct knowledge of the meeting.
Under the administration’s proposal, Blanche would choose four of the five commissioners that would determine payouts. The attorney general would appoint a fifth member after consulting with congressional leaders.
Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., once a Trump devotee was also vocal about Blanche expecting the GOP to go along with payouts to people who are lawbreakers.
“So the nation’s top law enforcement official is asking for a slush fund to pay people who assault cops? Utterly stupid, morally wrong. Take your pick,” McConnell said in a statement after the meeting.
A GOP aide indicated that the budget reconciliation bill could have been passed on Thursday were it not for the administration’s deal to set up such a reserve for political allies.
