WASHINGTON\u00a0\u2014\u00a0For much of Donald Trump\u2019s second term, Republican senators have largely stayed in line, wary of defying a president with a history of targeting those who cross him. This week, that dynamic noticeably shifted.<\/p>\n
Senate Republicans blocked two of Trump\u2019s legislative priorities, angered by the push to create a $1.8-billion federal fund<\/a> to compensate people who claim to have been politically persecuted, including rioters who assaulted the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The revolt forced Republican leaders to pull a planned vote on legislation to fund the president\u2019s immigration crackdown and security features for his White House ballroom project.<\/p>\n In response, the president defended the fund and lashed out at its critics.<\/p>\n \u201cI gave up a lot of money in allowing the just announced Anti-Weaponization Fund to go forward,\u201d Trump wrote in a post on his social media website. \u201cInstead, I am helping others, who were so badly abused by an evil, corrupt and weaponized Biden Administration, receive, at long last, JUSTICE\u201d!<\/p>\n The president also called Republican senators who broke with him quitters who are \u201cscrewing the Republican Party.\u201d <\/p>\n The friction, which has been building for weeks, is being watched as a potential test of the limits to Trump\u2019s grip on his party amid an already tense political environment heading into the midterm elections.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is kind of a perfect storm,\u201d former Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) said on NBC\u2019s \u201cMeet the Press.\u201d \u201cIt may be that this time you can point to it and say this is when the great migration begins, away from some of the president\u2019s policies and away from the fear that the president can target you.\u201d<\/p>\n Whether this week marks the beginning of that moment \u2014 or simply another episode of political turbulence that fades \u2014 is the central question now hanging over Trump\u2019s second term.<\/p>\n Not the first break \u2014 but an escalation<\/p>\n This is not the first time Republicans have broken with the president. In November, Congress overwhelmingly voted to force the Justice Department to release the Jeffrey Epstein files, an effort that Trump unsuccessfully tried to thwart<\/a> for months.<\/p>\n The Epstein vote showed that on the right issue, under the right circumstances, Republicans could be moved to defy Trump. This week, the creation of the fund changed the circumstances again, and the number of Republican senators willing to act quickly grew.<\/p>\n This moment comes after months of rising costs during the war in Iran, efforts by the president to oust members of his own party and now a set of proposals that are proving hard to defend in an election year.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat you have is basically a bunch of people who feel a bit under siege,\u201d said Bob Olinsky, the senior vice president of Structural Reform and Governance at the Center for American Progress. \u201cAt the same time, they know that most of what the president is doing is unpopular, and they\u2019re the ones who are going to be standing for reelection in November.\u201d<\/p>\n Republicans push back<\/p>\n Senate Republicans leaders are now asking the Department of Justice to reconsider the terms of the fund, underscoring just how politically toxic the idea has become within the president\u2019s party.<\/p>\n Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) told reporters that politically speaking, the fund is \u201cunexplainable.\u201d<\/a> Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) told the New York Times<\/a> that the fund should be in real trouble. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) called the fund \u201cutterly stupid\u201d and \u201cmorally wrong.\u201d <\/p>\n Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican whom Trump has singled out for going against him, was equally unsparing, saying he opposed \u201cusing billions of taxpayer dollars to compensate convicted felons and thugs who attacked police.\u201d He also criticized the administration for pushing domestic and foreign policy issues that he says are bad for housing and the military.<\/p>\n \u201cIf opposing these things makes me a RINO [Republican in Name Only], then I gladly accept that nickname,\u201d Tillis wrote on X.<\/a> \u201cWe need Republicans to do well in November, but the stupid stuff is killing our chances!\u201d<\/p>\n The GOP pushback comes at a time when concern about self-dealing runs deep across the electorate. <\/p>\n A recent Economist\/YouGov poll<\/a> found that 59% of Americans believe Trump is using his office for personal gain, though that belief is sharply divided along partisan lines. A CNN poll<\/a> found that 37% of Americans say Trump puts the good of the country above his personal gain, while 32% say he is in touch with the problems of ordinary Americans.<\/p>\n Asked whether the political environment influenced the actions this week, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told reporters that there is a \u201cpolitical component to everything we do around here.\u201d<\/p>\n Funds and tax immunity clauses<\/p>\n Senate Democrats are wondering whether the fund will mark a watershed moment for Republicans.<\/p>\n \u201cHave Republicans finally found a bridge too far?\u201d Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said to reporters after Republicans left Washington without funding Trump\u2019s priorities. <\/p>\n Democrats have called the fund an illegal abuse of power designed to line the pockets of Trump\u2019s allies with taxpayer dollars. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) called it a \u201cpure theft of public funds.\u201d<\/p>\n The fund was created as part of a settlement<\/a> resolving a $10-billion lawsuit Trump brought against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax returns. Alongside it, the deal says the IRS is \u201cforever barred and precluded\u201d from pursuing any tax claims against Trump and his businesses that were filed before May 19.<\/p>\n Under the tax immunity clause, Trump and his family could save more than $600 million, according to an analysis by Forbes.<\/a> <\/p>\n The fund, however, has been the target of most of the bipartisan ire. Mostly because Trump and administration officials have not ruled out that it could stand to benefit people who carried out violence during the Jan. 6 riot. <\/p>\n The public funds, if disbursed, would come from the federal judgment fund, which is a Congress-approved ongoing appropriation that allows the Justice Department to settle cases and make payouts. In the past, Republicans have taken issue with the fund. The GOP-controlled House Judiciary Committee characterized it an abuse<\/a> in 2017.<\/p>\n Several of the president\u2019s allies have already talked about tapping into the fund.<\/p>\n Michael Cohen, Trump\u2019s former attorney who served prison time in relation to campaign finance violations, said he plans to apply for compensation.<\/a> <\/p>\n