Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a Republican from South Dakota — allegedly on our side — just sent the entire Senate home for a weeklong recess, guaranteeing they will miss President Trump's June 1 deadline for the DHS funding bill. Republicans control the Senate, the House, and the White House, and they still can't get out of their own way.
Nothing says "party unity" like the Senate Majority Leader grabbing his luggage while the President's legislative agenda bleeds out on the floor.
The reconciliation bill was supposed to fund ICE and CBP operations — you know, the agencies actually enforcing immigration law at the border. Trump set a clear June 1 deadline. Thune's response? Pack it up, boys, we'll figure it out in June. The bill, per multiple senators, "still needs work." Apparently so does the Senate's commitment to showing up.
The sticking point is a $1.7 billion settlement fund for Americans who claim they were harmed by Biden's weaponized DOJ — what's being called the anti-weaponization fund. Senate Republicans, rather than backing the President who got them their majority, decided this was the hill to die on. Several senators want to put restrictions on the fund, and the Senate Parliamentarian ordered some provisions reworked, which gave Thune his excuse to pull the plug.
It gets better. Trump pressed Thune to fire the Senate Parliamentarian after she ruled Republicans couldn't include funding for a White House ballroom addition in the budget bill. Thune's response? He called Trump's statement "concerning" and suggested he'd provide the Parliamentarian with additional security. Read that again. The Republican Senate leader offered to protect a procedural bureaucrat from the Republican President.
Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina introduced a full-funding bill back on April 21. Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana has been vocal about the disputes. Even Senator John Cornyn of Texas — who Trump passed over when he endorsed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton — has been part of the internal drama. The GOP caucus looks less like a governing majority and more like a homeowners' association that can't agree on fence colors.
This is what Republican voters get for delivering a trifecta. We gave them the Senate. We gave them the House. We gave them the White House. And John Thune sent everyone home early like it's the last day of school before summer break.
Trump's DHS funding bill would secure immigration enforcement for four years. Four years of funded border security, locked in. Instead, it's sitting on Thune's desk collecting dust while senators scatter to their home states.
The man who is supposed to be ramming Trump's agenda through the Senate just became its biggest roadblock. As Not the Bee and RedState both reported, this is the GOP establishment doing what it does best — losing on purpose while pretending their hands are tied.
Remember this the next time John Thune asks for your vote.