Justice Minister Todd Blanche is in need of explanation.Image: keystone
Disagreement among Republicans over a planned compensation fund for alleged justice victims is delaying an important vote in the US Senate.
May 22, 2026, 11:20May 22, 2026, 11:20
According to US media, the Republicans postponed their vote on the legislative package on Thursday, which, among other things, is intended to regulate the financing of US immigration authorities such as ICE.
According to US media, several Republicans are protesting against the compensation fund that US President Donald Trump introduced at short notice through the Justice Department and wants to include in the legislative package.
Compensations for alleged misconduct by the US judiciary
According to his wishes, around 1.8 billion dollars (around 1.5 billion euros) should flow into a fund to compensate alleged victims of the US justice system.
With the plan, the president is now endangering his actually stable majority in Congress: Critics, however, see it as an attempt to reward Trump’s supporters.
According to the reports, the plan is even met with major concerns in Republican ranks. It is therefore feared that the fund could be aimed at Trump supporters who were present during the storming of the Capitol in 2021 and were charged for this during Joe Biden’s administration. Trump issued a number of pardons after taking office in 2025.
The Senate Democratic minority leader, Chuck Schumer, spoke of “bribes” for Trump allies in this context.
Concerns among Republicans not allayed
Before the planned vote, on Thursday, according to the “Washington Post” Several Republicans asked acting Attorney General Todd Blanche for clarification on Trump’s planned “Anti-Weaponization Fund.”
However, his answers did not address the concerns sufficiently to continue the legislative process, the newspaper wrote. In view of the open questions, the Republicans would not be able to push through the legislative package including the fund plans.
According to the station CNN As a result, a planned meeting between Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson was canceled, as was the vote on the legislative package scheduled for Friday.
This makes it unlikely that MPs will be able to fulfill Trump’s instructions to complete the bill to fund migration authorities by June 1st. The Senate will take a week-long break on May 25 for Memorial Day.
Additional funding for the immigration authorities ICE and the border protection agency CBP are a high priority for Trump. In view of massive criticism of the authorities’ actions, this has been debated in the Senate for months. (sda/dpa)