PARKERSBURG – U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito said she needs more information about a nearly $1.8 billion fund to compensate people claiming persecution by the government when asked if she had any concerns about it.
Capito, R-W.Va., touched on that and other issues related to efforts to fund immigration enforcement efforts and security enhancements at the White House during her weekly phone conference with members of the West Virginia media.
The anti-weaponization fund involves the allocation of $1.776 billion as part of a settlement resolving President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS over the leak of his tax returns. The fund is intended to compensate people who believe they were mistreated by the Justice Department under prior administrations, with payouts to be determined by a five-member commission appointed by the attorney general.
Democrats have threatened to include amendments to either block the fund or ban payments to Trump supporters who harmed law enforcement officers at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, during the process by which Republicans hope to pass an approximately $70 billion bill to restore funding to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol.
Capito said it’s incumbent upon Republicans to get that bill passed.
“The Democrats honestly will not fund law enforcement at the border,” she said.
But on Thursday afternoon, after the press briefing, Senate Republicans left the capital for the Memorial Day recess without voting on the bill. The Associated Press cited an impasse over the settlement fund, along with other frustrations with the White House.
Asked about the fund Thursday, Capito said she believes there has been weaponization and overreach by the Justice Department but wanted to know the parameters of the fund and who could receive payouts.
“I don’t know what an ‘anti-weaponization fund’ is,” she said. “It looks as though that is going to be difficult for us to pass in a reconciliation bill.”
Backlash from some members of the party led Senate Republicans to turn away from including $1 billion for security at the White House complex and Trump’s proposed ballroom in the bill.
