President Donald Trump’s announcement Tuesday that Bill Pulte will serve as acting Director of National Intelligence—taking over the post from the embattled Tulsi Gabbard—makes a weird kind of sense. Pulte, who currently serves as head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, has no experience that prepares him to oversee the 18 intelligence agencies that the […]
Republican senators are still unconvinced that President Trump is dropping his $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” slush fund—and want assurance that Trump won’t use taxpayer funds to pay off his allies. Without it, their own immigration reconciliation bill may also be in jeopardy. On Monday, the Department of Justice announced that it would hold back on its plans for the fund after a federal judge ordered them paused until June 12. While the administration promised to abide, Republican senators are unconvinced it’s a permanent end. “If it means it’s completely pulled, then that would satisfy me, but I haven’t heard anybody say that that is actually what is happening,” Senator Lisa Murkowski told Politico. Senator Shelley Moore Capito called for “more investigation” into the fund, while Senator James Langford urged the Trump administration to “say what they actually mean” regarding the fund. “The reconciliation bill looks like a broken arm with the bones sticking out,” Senator John Kennedy added. “They have to abide by the district court decision—that’s in the Constitution. I’d have to know more about their position on the weaponization fund to know whether it would be enough to dislodge the reconciliation bill.”The continued questions about the slush fund suggest that there is much more internal discord among the GOP Senate than initially thought—and less inherent rallying around President Trump. This all comes as acting Attorney General Todd Blanche prepares to testify before the House Appropriations Committee Tuesday, where he will most surely be asked about the future of the slush fund.