Senate Republicans on Thursday narrowly stopped Chuck Schumer from killing President Trump’s anti-weaponization fund.
The vote was 49-50. Schumer’s amendment to ban the fund failed.
But three Republicans crossed over and voted with every Democrat in the chamber.
Susan Collins of Maine, Dan Sullivan of Alaska, and John Husted of Ohio all sided with Schumer.
TOE MEETS LEATHER – the reconciliation Vote-a-Rama is underway. First vote is a Schumer motion which would get rid of the Trump ‘anti-weaponization’ fund. Not clear how this is going to shake out, which is unusual for this type of bill. pic.twitter.com/L2GWZ7wfJc
— Jamie Dupree (@jamiedupree) June 4, 2026
The fight is bigger than one amendment.
The fund was created to pay back Americans who were targeted and persecuted by Joe Biden’s Department of Justice. The lawfare years did real damage to real people, and President Trump’s team wanted a mechanism to make them whole.
Schumer wanted that mechanism gone. He introduced his amendment during Wednesday’s vote-a-rama, the marathon amendment session tied to the reconciliation package.
The Gateway Pundit broke down the vote and the names:
Senate Republicans on Thursday voted 49-50 to defeat an amendment that would ban Trump’s weaponization fund.
Three Republican Senators voted with the Democrats: Susan Collins (ME), Dan Sullivan (AK) and John Husted (OH).
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche this week said the DOJ is dropping the $1.8 billion weaponization fund created to pay people who were persecuted by the Biden Regime.
President Trump and the DOJ have suggested that they are working on a backup plan to pay back Americans who were brutalized by Biden’s DOJ.
Democrat Minority Leader Chuck Schumer introduced the amendment to ban Trump’s weaponization fund during Wednesday’s vote-a-rama.
Senate Republicans voted on Thursday morning to defeat an amendment sponsored by Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) to prohibit the Department of Justice from establishing a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund for MAGA allies, a proposal that acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told lawmakers this week the administration would abandon.
ADVERTISEMENTNotably, Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and John Husted (R-Ohio), who all face tough re-election races in November, voted for Schumer’s amendment.
The proposal, which would have amended a $70 billion budget reconciliation package to fund immigration enforcement, still failed by a vote of 49 to 50.
All Democrats voted for it.
That last line matters more than the vote itself.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told lawmakers this week the DOJ would abandon the $1.8 billion fund in its current form.
So Schumer was swinging at a target the administration had already signaled it would move.
But President Trump and the DOJ are not walking away from the underlying goal. They have made clear they are working on a backup plan to compensate the Americans Biden’s prosecutors went after.
The three Republican crossovers share something in common. Collins, Sullivan, and Husted all face tough re-election races in November.
The fund had been attached to a $70 billion budget reconciliation package built to fund immigration enforcement.
Stripping it would have done nothing to help the people Biden’s DOJ steamrolled. It would only have closed a door.
That door stayed open, by one vote.
Schumer’s amendment failed by one vote.
The fund itself is still in flux, and the broader fight over lawfare accountability is far from settled.
The vote shows the Senate is now openly arguing over whether Americans punished by a politicized DOJ can ever be made whole.
President Trump’s side wants them paid. Schumer’s side wants the idea buried.
Watch the backup plan, and watch which Republicans show up when the next vote comes.
