By Maribel Velazquez
The Republican senator Ted Cruz set off alarms within the Republican Party after revealing that a Private meeting with acting Attorney General Todd Blanche ended in a “total riot” among conservative legislators for the new compensation fund promoted by the Donald Trump Administration.
According to statements by Cruz himself in his podcast, the meeting held on Thursday at the Capitol was “one of the most difficult meetings” that he has seen throughout his entire career in the Senate. The Republican assured that there were “fireworks of epic magnitude” and described the atmosphere as a open confrontation against the Department of Justice.
CBS News reported in this regard that the growing internal rejection of the so-called “anti-militarization fund”, a fund close to $1.8 billion intended to compensate people who claim to have been victims of political persecution.
Republicans explode against the DOJ
According to Cruz, about forty-five of the fifty-three Republican senators participated in the meeting and at least half expressed a strong rejection of the idea promoted by the Department of Justice.
“They yelled at the acting general prosecutor,” stated the Texan senator. “It was not a quiet protest, but a shouting one.”
The legislator maintained that several Republicans consider that the fund could become a politically risky mechanism for the White House, especially since some involved in the assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021 have already expressed interest in requesting financial compensation.
Given these concerns, Cruz assured that Blanche responded bluntly that neither Trump, nor his family, nor people accused of violence against police would be eligible to receive money from the program.
“Todd Blanche was adamant and said, ‘No way!’” Cruz recalled.
Fund threatens key immigration negotiations
The controversy broke out just as the Senate was preparing to vote on a budget package focused on border security and immigration relief, two of Trump’s main political axes towards the end of his term.
Although the Justice Department fund is not part of the budget reconciliation package, Democrats threatened to push related amendments during votewhich ended up temporarily slowing down the legislative process before the Memorial Day recess.
“If this fund had not been announced this week, right now we would be funding border security”Cruz lamented.
For its part, the Department of Justice tried to lower the tension through a statement in which He described the meeting as a “constructive debate.”” and assured that no resources intended for reconciliation will be used to finance the controversial program.
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