Barbara Sprunt

You know, in large part because of the White House.

There was bipartisan pushback at that anti-weaponization fund.

The acting attorney general said it's not going to move forward, which seemed to satisfy senators.

But then the president told reporters he didn't actually know if it was scrapped or not.

And he said that knowing that there are these Republican senators who are uncomfortable with the idea.

So this moment for congressional Republicans is about passing this priority after all this time.

But it's also a moment where there's this increasing tension and conflict with the White House.

And I don't think that's stopping anytime soon.

You know, I think there's at least a handful of Republican senators this morning asking themselves that same question, Steve.

You know, some of those GOP amendments that were crafted were made in a way to be as attractive as they could be to the full Republican conference.

And as you said, we saw them fail to meet the threshold time and time again.

Senators were initially caught by surprise by the White House's proposal to establish a nearly $2 billion anti-weaponization fund.

something that drew bipartisan backlash.

Lawmakers feared it could pay funds to people convicted of assaulting police officers during the attack on the Capitol building on January 6th.

Senate Republicans have been pushing the administration to abandon the program.

After the Justice Department said it will abide by a court order temporarily blocking the fund, Republicans may be back on track to passing a reconciliation package that would fund Immigrations and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol through 2029.

Barbara Sprint, NPR News, the Capitol.

Senate Republicans said they'll address immigration enforcement when they return to Capitol Hill.

But in the background is the reason they had to pause in the first place, opposition to a nearly $2 billion anti-weaponization fund from the White House.

The fund, part of President Trump's settlement of a lawsuit against the IRS, would give money to people who allege they've been wronged by the government.