House and Senate Republicans are at odds over Trump’s ‘anti-weaponization’ fund

House and Senate Republicans were fuming as they left Washington last week for a long holiday break. The source of the torment, however, was notably different on each side of the Capitol, and the distinctions forecast a clash between the chambers when Congress returns next month. 

While many Senate Republicans were furious with the Trump administration for creating a new $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund at the Justice Department — a surprise development prompting Senate GOP leaders to abandon plans to move an immigration enforcement bill before the weekend — many House Republicans welcomed the idea of compensating “victims of lawfare.”

Their anger was directed instead at their Senate colleagues for leaving town before the immigration package was passed. 

“It’s stupid,” Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) said. “We’ve wasted a whole daggum week, and I think it’s kind of pathetic.”

The internal tensions reflect the different pressures facing GOP senators, who represent the diverse populations of entire states, and the many House Republicans who hail from deep red districts where President Trump remains wildly popular and loyalty to the president is practically prerequisite to winning elections.

The clash also predicts a tough road ahead for GOP leaders in both chambers as they race to fund U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol when lawmakers return to Washington after the Memorial Day recess. 

Already, they’re on track to blow past a Trump-imposed June 1 deadline. And that timeline could slip a good deal further if Senate Republicans insist on limits to the Department of Justice (DOJ) fund, as part of the bill, and House Republicans reject those demands.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and his leadership team had designs to move the $72 billion immigration package late last week through a partisan process, known as budget reconciliation, that eliminates the need for any Democratic votes. That........

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