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Senate Democrats are doing everything they can to kill President Donald Trump’s “anti-gun” fund, and Republicans may be willing to help them.
The nearly $2 billion fund has drawn heavy criticism from both sides of the aisle since it was announced last month as part of a deal between Trump and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Also, meanwhile, the GOP’s push to boost billions in immigration enforcement funding has exploded. And as lawmakers return from a weeklong recess, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., and Democrats won’t let the issue die quietly.
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Senate Democrats are doing everything they can to kill President Donald Trump’s “anti-gun” fund, and Republicans may be willing to help them. (Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty Images; Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“This week, Senate Democrats will launch a concerted effort to kill the watertight fund before a dime is out,” Schumer said in a letter to colleagues. “And no matter what the Republicans do, we’re going to force them to vote.”
“If the Republicans return to reconciliation, we will be ready with amendments to close this fund,” he continued. “If they try to hide this issue, we will force them to go to the Senate. If they try to sneak out and withdraw money, we will fight them there.”
The Senate is returning to pick up where lawmakers left off on the budget, a process the GOP party uses to cut $72 billion to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Border Patrol over the next three and a half years.
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Part of that process includes “vote-a-rama,” where unlimited amendment votes take place.
Democrats already have several amendments in the works to cut the fund, including one that would bar those convicted of rape and sexual assault from gaining access to a pot of taxpayer-funded money.
And Republican leaders fear that many in the GOP will support those amendments. Relations between Senate Republicans and Trump are not at their best, either, following the president’s decision to back the challengers who succeeded Sens. Bill Cassidy, R-La., and John Cornyn, R-Texas.
But the disagreement within the GOP against funding the Department of Justice (DOJ) is much broader than just the two Republicans, and at least part of the congress is against it during a heated meeting with acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.
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Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche speaks during a news conference at the Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice building in Washington, DC, on April 7, 2026. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Several wanted to know what kind of action, if any, will be taken by the administration to monitor the fund to prevent those found guilty of assaulting the police during the Jan riots. 6, 2021, in receiving funds.
Many see this as an issue for Trump and the administration to address, especially given how close Republicans have been to advancing a comprehensive reconciliation package.
But the DOJ has argued that it does not want reconciliation money for this fund, and it is an issue that has nothing to do with the program. However, Republicans see it differently, given that the Senate Judiciary Committee, which oversees the Justice Department, plays a major role in the legislative package.
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Schumer and the Democrats, however, want to destroy the fund.
“There will be no escape,” Schumer said. “There are no guard rails or backrooms that promise to hide. There is no announcement by the Department of Justice that makes this corruption acceptable.”
“Republicans are looking for a way out – not to end corruption, but to control it,” he continued. “That won’t be enough. You don’t fix a corrupt garbage bag by promising to treat it better. You get rid of it.”
