Reconciliation Update
June 2, 2026
The Senate delayed its action on Reconciliation 2.0 amid concerns over the Department of Justice’s establishment of a fund to provide payments to claimants harmed by the weaponization of government under previous administrations.
Why it matters: Reconciliation 2.0 is narrowly focused on funding ICE and the Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) through the end of the Trump administration. Congress had the goal of enacting the funding by June 1.
- The $1.776 billion Weaponization Fund was established as part of a settlement of President Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS for the leak of his tax returns in the first Trump administration.
- The fund would be overseen by a board of five presidential appointees and provide monetary payments to applicants harmed by government action.
- Senate Republicans were highly critical of the fund during a meeting with the Acting Attorney General.
- The announcement landed shortly before a key vote series on reconciliation known as a Senate Vote-a-Rama. The vote series allows Senators to offer unlimited amendments to the reconciliation bill.
Senate leadership postponed the vote series because the fund could have been stripped through the amendment process, which would have put Senators at odds with the White House.
- GOP leadership prefers to negotiate guardrails or acceptable management of the fund rather than put its members in a difficult position of opposing the President or supporting a politically unpopular position.
- The Senate and the White House have been at odds over a $1 billion request in the reconciliation bill to fund “East Wing Improvements,” tagged as the White House ballroom renovation. The Senate parliamentarian threw out that provision, as it was unlikely to survive in the Senate or House versions.
The development is a major setback for the reconciliation process and will delay other legislative actions in the Senate as leadership works out a solution.