Since Senate Republicans shelved this immigration enforcement bill in mid-May over the anti-weaponization fund controversy, they've spent two weeks trying to get back to what they actually wanted to do: fund ICE, CBP, and border enforcement through fiscal year 2029.

They got there Tuesday. The Senate voted along party lines to begin debate on the reconciliation package, according to NPR. The bill would deliver $72 billion for immigration enforcement agencies.

What's NOT in the Bill

Notice what got stripped out: nearly $1 billion in Secret Service funding — including money for security at Trump's planned ballroom — is absent from the package, per NPR. Taxpayer-funded security for a private ballroom was a fight Republicans apparently decided wasn't worth having right now.

The Fund That Wouldn't Die

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche told members of Congress that the administration is "not moving forward with the fund, period," according to NYT reporting. That statement was supposed to be the green light for Senate Republicans to move the bill.

Then Trump walked into the Oval Office on Wednesday and said this, per NPR: "The weaponization fund, as far as I'm concerned, was a beautiful thing."

Pressed on whether the fund was dead or just on hold, Trump said: "It's... I'd have to ask the lawyers, I don't know."

The Deputy AG announces the fund is dead. The President says he loves it and doesn't know its status. These two men work in the same administration.

What the Anti-Weaponization Fund Actually Was

The fund — originally pegged at $1.776 billion in some reports, with Fox News citing figures up to $2 billion — was designed to compensate people who allege being targeted by the federal government. A federal judge temporarily blocked it after lawsuits filed by Democracy Forward and other organizations, according to NPR.

Bipartisan opposition killed it politically before the court even got far. Several Senate Republicans told NYT they wanted statutory language banning the fund — not just a promise from the executive branch that it wouldn't be created. That's a significant distinction. A promise from Todd Blanche is not a law. Trump's Wednesday comments proved exactly why those senators were right to be skeptical.

Coverage and the Thune Factor

Most left-leaning coverage — AP, NPR, NYT — frames this as a clean win for Senate institutional power over executive overreach. There's truth in that.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune got a real win here. He's now 2-for-2 this week after forcing the anti-weaponization fund into retreat and getting the ICE bill moving. Thune's ability to hold his caucus and push back on the White House is a story about functional Senate leadership.

Right-leaning coverage via Fox News frames this as the GOP advancing border enforcement funding after "forcing Trump's controversial $2B fund into retreat." The border bill IS the substantive policy goal here. The fund drama was a sideshow that nearly tanked $72 billion in actual immigration enforcement money.

Trump's Wednesday comments carry real weight. If a president publicly says he loves a program his own Deputy AG just killed, that Deputy AG's word means nothing to any future Congress trying to negotiate with this administration. The senators who wanted a statutory ban were right. They didn't get it.

The Vote-A-Rama Problem

Reconciliation comes with a price: the vote-a-rama. Democrats will force Republicans to take on-record votes on a series of amendments specifically designed to be politically painful, per NPR. Immigration, spending, benefits — every vulnerable Republican in a swing state will get put on the record on something they'd rather avoid before this bill reaches the President's desk.

This is standard Senate procedure, but it's going to sting. Democrats have nothing to lose right now and every incentive to make Republicans walk a gauntlet.

What Comes Next

The $72 billion ICE funding bill is moving. That's real. Border enforcement agencies get funded through 2029 if this passes and survives a House conference.

But the anti-weaponization fund isn't legally dead — it's politically paused. Trump said so himself Wednesday. Any Republican who voted to proceed without a statutory prohibition just took Trump at his word. Given his track record on staying quiet about things he likes, that's a bet with real risk.

Thune won this round. Whether the White House lets him keep winning is another question.