GOP leverages ICE funding package to make Trump's controversial $2B fund 'never exist'

By Fox News · Fox News

Senate Republicans may need more convincing from the Trump administration that the "anti-weaponization" fund is officially dead, even after acting Attorney General Todd Blanche spelled out its doom on Tuesday. Many Republicans demanded that the administration make it crystal clear that not only was the nearly $2 billion fund done, but that it would never come back. And at stake is a multibillion package to fund immigration enforcement operations. During a closed-door meeting Tuesday, Senate Republican leadership assured members that Blanche would lay out the fate of the fund, and hoped that it would be enough to quell dissent among the ranks. TRUMP ADMIN BACKS OFF CONTROVERSIAL $2B FUND, CLEARING PATH FOR STALLED GOP IMMIGRATION BILL And he did during a hearing in the House, where he repeatedly said that the administration was not moving forward with the fund. "The reasons for the fund, I think, remain as important as they were before, but we are not moving forward with the fund," Blanche said. The fund was announced last month as part of a settlement between the Trump family and the Internal Revenue Service, and pitched as a mechanism for people who felt they were targeted by the government to get a financial kickback. Republicans were concerned that without proper guardrails, people convicted of assaulting police officers during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot on Capitol Hill could access the taxpayer cash flow. Some in the GOP wanted President Donald Trump to come out and officially kill the fund. "I assume if Blanche is saying it, the president must agree," Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said. GOP DEMANDS TRUMP KILL CONTROVERSIAL $2B FUND BEFORE REVIVING ICE FUNDING PACKAGE But some Republicans want an even more concrete show from the administration that it’s actually dead and gone. "I'm not sure that's gonna be good enough for some people," Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., contended that if the administration really meant it, it would support le…