Republicans Scrap Funding for Trump's Ballroom

Trump
Reuters
By Yuval Rosenberg and Michael Rainey

Good Wednesday evening! Here's what we're watching as we digest last night's election results and the remarkable comeback/collapse in the Knicks-Cavs playoff game.

Republicans Dropping Trump Ballroom Funding From Spending Bill: Senator

Republicans are moving ahead with their $72 billion partisan bill to fund immigration enforcement, but the package apparently won't include a proposed $1 billion in Secret Service funding, including security money for President Trump's ballroom project, after that request ran afoul of the Senate parliamentarian and was met with skepticism from lawmakers in both parties.

Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana told reporters after a meeting of GOP senators Wednesday that there was not enough support in the Senate to provide the $1 billion for the ballroom and related security needs. "We were told that, and again, I haven't looked at the text, but we're told that the ballroom money is out," Kennedy said.

Trump lashes out: Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough ruled over the weekend that the $1 billion provision failed to comply with the Senate rules governing the reconciliation process that Republicans are using to avoid a Democratic filibuster and be able to pass their bill via a simple majority vote.

Angered by MacDonough's ruling, Trump reportedly pressed Senate Majority Leader John Thune to fire her earlier this week - and he lashed out at both Senate Republicans and the parliamentarian on Wednesday.

"Over the years, she has been brutal to Republicans, but not so to the Dumocrats - So why has she not been replaced?" Trump wrote in a social media post. "There are many fair people who would be qualified for that vital job. The Republicans play a very soft game compared to the Dumocrats. It is their single biggest disadvantage in politics. The Dumocrats cheat, lie, and steal, especially when it comes to Votes in Elections, but stick together, whereas the Republicans allow the Elizabeth MacDonoughs of the World to stay in power, and brutalize us."

Trump went on to again call on Republicans to eliminate the filibuster and pass the SAVE America Act, his plan to restrict voting, arguing that doing so "would give us everything!"

He concluded with another warning for his party: "Get smart and tough Republicans, or you'll all be looking for a job much sooner than you thought possible!"

Pushing ahead with the rest of the package: As Republicans race to get the rest of their budget reconciliation package to Trump's desk by his June 1 deadline, the Senate Budget Committee advanced the bill in a party-line vote, 11-10, setting up a possible floor vote as soon as this week.

The reconciliation package would provide $30.73 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and $22.57 billion for Customs and Border Protection, funding the agencies through 2029.

The reconciliation process involves a marathon series of amendment votes, known as a vote-a-rama. Those votes reportedly could start as soon as tonight. Democrats reportedly are expected to bring up an amendment targeting the new $1.776 billion "anti-weaponization" fund created by the Justice Department as part of a settlement of Trump's $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS.

The bottom line: The Senate's decision to strip the ballroom funding is sure to infuriate the president. It comes just as Trump was celebrating a string of election wins that demonstrated his continued strength among Republican voters - and it highlights the growing trouble he might have in pushing his priorities through a narrowly divided Congress. That's especially true now that a number of GOP lawmakers, worried about their re-election prospects or burned by the president's retribution campaign, now feel less obligated to toe the line for Trump.

Quote of the Day

"Maybe he doesn't think he needs us. But I don't know, last time I checked, the laws don't just appear before his desk to sign. The funding just doesn't come."

  • Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, as quoted in Politico, expressing a concern shared by many Republicans that President Trump's retribution campaign against members of his party could hamper efforts to enact the GOP agenda in Congress. Republicans also fear that Trump's push for political payback, including his endorsement Tuesday of controversial Texas Senate candidate Ken Paxton over incumbent Sen. John Cornyn, will cost the party in November and undermine their efforts to retain control of the Senate.

Trump Could Escape $100 Million Penalty With End of IRS Probe

The unprecedented agreement announced Tuesday by Attorney General Todd Blanche that resolves President Trump's $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS could save Trump a huge sum of money - potentially more than $100 million.

The agreement establishes a roughly a $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization" fund intended to compensate people who claim they were unjustly prosecuted or otherwise abused by the justice system for political reasons, including some of Trump's supporters who were involved in the January 6, 2021, riots at the Capitol. At the same time, it also brings all investigations by the IRS into Trump and his family and businesses to a permanent halt. That would mean that a long-running investigation into Trump's taxes will be shut down, eliminating the risk that he could be hit with a massive bill for back payments and penalties.

Although it's not clear what the status is of any of the IRS audits into Trump's complex finances, there has been no announcement that they were resolved, and Trump has used the long-running audits to explain why he cannot release his historical tax returns for public review.

An investigation by The New York Times of Trump's tax history published in 2020 found that he had been battling the IRS over multiple issues, including a roughly $72 million refund Trump claimed more than 15 years ago, based on losses of more than $1 billion he reported in 2008 and 2009. If the IRS found that the refund claim was improper, as it had argued, Trump could have owed more than $100 million in repayments and penalties.

Trump denies involvement: On Wednesday, Trump said he had nothing to do with the establishment of the compensation fund, which critics are describing as a slush fund for the president to use to reward his supporters.

"I released them from the lawsuit and I guess they made a settlement of some kind," he told reporters, referring to the IRS. "I wasn't involved in the settlement. I could have been involved, but I didn't choose to be."

Trump said the fund was going to be used to reimburse people for the legal costs associated with what he called abuse by the Obama and Biden administrations. "People were destroyed, they went to jail," Trump said. "Their families were ruined, they committed suicide."

Trump added that the reimbursement costs were "peanuts" compared to the value of lives he said had been destroyed.

Raskin aims to block: Rep. Jamie Raskin, the senior Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, introduced legislation on Wednesday that would prohibit the government from making payments from the compensation fund.

The "No Taxpayer-Funded Settlement Slush Funds Act of 2026" would directly prohibit the use of federal funds to create the fund established by the agreement announced on Tuesday, according to a statement released by Raskin. It would also impose "sweeping new restrictions to prevent taxpayer dollars from being steered to January 6 rioters, MAGA sycophants, senior government officials, and members of the President or Vice President's family."

Raskin, a constitutional lawyer, noted that only Congress has the power to appropriate funds, and lawmakers have not done so for the compensation fund. "That's why I'm introducing the No Taxpayer-Funded Settlement Slush Funds Act to shut down this highway robbery and restore basic guardrails on how taxpayer dollars are spent," Raskin said.

The Democrat may get support from some Republicans. Asked about the fund, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick said: "We're gonna try to kill it."

"We're considering legislative options. We're gonna write a letter to the [attorney general] to start, but we're considering a legislative option," Fitzpatrick added. "We're trying to unpack exactly, you know, what the legal machinations are, but you can't do that."

Police officers sue: Two police officers who were attacked by violent Trump supporters at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, filed a lawsuit Wednesday that seeks to prevent the creation of the "anti-weaponization" compensation fund. Trump, Blanche and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent are named as defendants.

Filed by former Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn and Metropolitan Police Officer Daniel Hodges, the lawsuit contends that the Trump administration has created a "slush fund to finance the insurrectionists and paramilitary groups that commit violence in his name," and has exceeded its authority by acting without congressional authorization.

"Although Trump and his cronies have been secretive about the fund's ends, reporting leaves no doubt that it will be used, among other purposes, to pay the nearly 1,600 people charged with attacking the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021," the lawsuit says.

One of the lawyers filing the suit, former federal prosecutor Brendan Ballou, said the compensation fund would produce "enormous physical dangers" for the police officers. "The fund is stunningly, blindingly illegal, and the defendants must be prohibited from transferring money to this corrupt and illegal monstrosity," Ballou said in a statement.

Trump supporters celebrate: Some of Trump's supporters, including those who rioted at the Capitol on January 6, say they are delighted that the fund is being created.

"I lost my career," January 6 rioter Dominic Box, who spent more than a year in jail, told CNN. "I look forward to financial compensation. I need it. This will be a welcome relief."

Mike Lindell, the CEO of MyPillow and a staunch Trump supporter, said he thinks his company lost $400 million in the wake of the 2020 election. Lindell was one of the most prominent proponents of the baseless claim that the election was marred by massive voter fraud, resulting in his being sued and investigated.

"I would say we were the number-one company in the world hurt by our own government," Lindell said.

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