Republican progress on immigration bill stalls out over Trump's ballroom, DOJ settlement

Source: AP

Updated 2:28 PM EDT, May 21, 2026


WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans appeared increasingly unlikely to meet their self-imposed deadline for passing a roughly $70 billion immigration enforcement bill this week as disputes over security funding for the White House and the Trump administration’s $1.8 billion settlement fund effectively derailed progress.

Republicans were already expected to abandon $1 billion in security money for the White House complex and President Donald Trump’s ballroom amid backlash from members of their own party. But then questions about the settlement fund added to some of the senator’s concerns. They are questioning who would get the money.

Republican senators met with acting Attorney General Todd Blanche on Thursday as they worked to finalize the bill’s text and whether to put parameters on the settlement, which was designed to compensate Trump’s allies who believe they have been politically persecuted. Thune told reporters that senators had questions and wanted to know “how we might make sure that it’s fenced in appropriately.”

But senators who emerged from the meeting were tight-lipped and indicated that lawmakers would not hold a vote on the package before leaving Washington for a Memorial Day break, risking failure to meet Trump’s June 1 deadline.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/congress-billion-ballroom-trump-funding-bill-republicans-d0b0d2ee59a95f6199d80998ab89d7e4