This week on the Hill: Reconciliation bill runs up against Republican infighting

Monday was supposed to be the deadline for getting an immigration enforcement funding package on President Trump’s desk.  

Instead, the Senate will return Monday evening, preparing for a showdown over the bill after negotiations on the measure blew up more than a week ago following the White House’s  announcement of the creation of a separate, controversial “anti-weaponization” fund that would issue payouts to those who believe they were wronged by the government.

Senate Republicans of all stripes were so frustrated with the administration over the fund — as well as Trump’s move to endorse primary challengers to well-respected incumbents — that leadership cancelled the planned vote series on the enforcement bill and lawmakers rushed out of town. If things were testy then, they might be tenser now, since Trump-endorsed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton defeated longtime incumbent Sen. John Cornyn, the GOP leadership pick, in a primary last week.  

“It’s hard to divorce anything that happens here from what’s happening in political atmosphere around us,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told reporters last week. “You can’t disconnect those things.” 

What else you can expect this week:  

War powers: Both chambers are likely to take up resolutions on limiting Trump’s war powers in Iran, amounting to a test of Trump’s ability to control his party.

FISA reauthorization: Republicans will try to make progress on the path to extending a hotly debated spy powers law ahead of a June 12 deadline. 

Foreign policy budget review in committees: Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to appear before four congressional committees, where he is likely to be grilled on Iran, Cuba and a host of other issues.

Reconciliation bill’s fate tied to Trump’s move on ‘anti-weaponization’ fund

The “anti-weaponization” legal defense fund the White House proposed last month is not part of the reconciliation bill that was ironed out and set to pass before the recess.

But because the fund and the bill are both in part under the purview of the Senate Judiciary Committee, an unlimited series of votes on the bill known as a vote-a-rama would open up opportunities for Democrats to force Republicans to take painful amendment votes related to the fund.  

A number of Republican senators emerged from a tense meeting with acting Attorney General Todd Blanche last month voicing sharp disapproval of the fund and advocating for guardrails around how the money is distributed.

Thune told reporters after dismissing senators in the wake of the cancelled votes........

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