Congress has finally released the text of a new funding bill ahead of a new round of debates and voting, and according to the text of the bill, it has dealt President Donald Trump some massive losses as two of his biggest priorities have been snubbed for the time being.
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Prior to the release of this new bill, Trump had put heavy pressure on Republicans in Congress to allot new taxpayer funding for his White House ballroom, a project that he has become increasingly fixated on to the detriment of other, more important issues. The ballroom has become massively unpopular with voters, as Democrats have positioned it as a symbol of Trump’s disregard for the harsh economic conditions Americans are dealing with heading into the midterms.
The DOJ, in settling a lawsuit brought by Trump against the IRS, was also set to request nearly $1.8 billion in taxpayer dollars for the creation of an “anti-weaponization” fund, which critics said would be another excuse to provide kickbacks to Trump’s close allies and supporters. Following a temporary order from a judge halting the fund’s creation, the administration has reportedly begun backing away from the idea, which had become immediately toxic among both Democrats and Republicans.
Now, the newest funding bill set to go before the Senate has made it official that neither of these Trump-backed plans will be receiving any money, at least for the time being.
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“Senate Republicans are moving forward with a package to fund the Department of Homeland Security’s immigration agencies on Wednesday, following a back-and-forth over the Justice Department’s ‘anti-weaponization’ fund that threatened to derail the long-sought funding,” CBS News reported on Wednesday.
It continued: “A of one part of the package released Wednesday also dropped language that would have provided $1 billion in security funding for the Secret Service, including for President Trump’s East Wing renovation, where he plans to build a massive ballroom. That funding faced intense scrutiny from a handful of Republicans, prompting senators to abandon it.”
The text of the bill does, however, include new funding allocations for ICE and other immigration enforcement entities, after Democrats had dug in their heels in opposition to the idea after agents killed two American citizens in Minneapolis earlier this year. Republicans are now committed to using the reconciliation process to get the funding bill passed, which allows them to pass things with a simple majority. Otherwise, complete Democratic opposition would have prevented the bill from getting past the 60-vote filibuster threshold.
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