Republican senators can no longer plaster over the divisions Donald Trump is bringing to their party. After a turbulent sequence of events in which the administration had constant disagreements with GOP senators over Trump’s ballroom and a slush fund of $1.8 billion for individuals supposedly targeted by Joe Biden, Republican senators have decided to abandon a bill meant to fund ICE. According to a report by HuffPost, Trump’s acting Attorney General went to Capitol Hill on Thursday to ease lawmakers’ concerns about the “Anti-Weaponization Fund.” It was a closed-door meeting, but reportedly when Republican senators left, they looked upset and did not want to take questions from the press. Without warning, they then canceled plans to vote on a bill funding immigration enforcement. The current plan is to resume deliberations after the Memorial Day recess. Republican senators were hoping to return to their districts with a win and finally end a long-gestating crisis at the Department of Homeland Security. Local primaries are happening throughout the country, and every incumbent wants to ensure voters understand that their priorities remain top of mind. Yet everything is currently being overshadowed by Trump’s wildly unpopular priorities surrounding the funding of his personal projects. This may play well with the MAGA base, but the Republican base is far more diverse than that. Ted Budd said, “We were ready to move this, we want to get our enforcement officers regularly funded, and unfortunately, some decisions were made that got that off the rails.” Other Republican senators were a bit more coy about why they didn’t pass the ICE funding bill before June. None of them admitted it was because of any one issue, but they did acknowledge that Trump’s weaponization fund did not help matters. Chuck Schumer responded to the gridlock at a press conference. He said, “Republicans are in complete disarray. Republicans have tied themselves up in knots and torn themselves into shreds over Trump’s brazen, corrupt slush fund for his billionaire cronies and Jan. 6 insurrectionists.” Todd Blanche, however, assured the press that things were not as dire in the meeting as they had been portrayed. According to the acting Attorney General, it was a rather “healthy discussion” and that the weaponization fund was a parallel issue that had more to do with “budget reconciliation” than with unpopular priorities pushed by Trump. Trump claimed that the weaponization fund would make all the businesspeople who were “targeted” by Biden during his one-term administration whole again. The fund was reportedly the result of a “settlement” the IRS made in response to Trump’s own personal lawsuit. John Thune answered questions from the press about the fund, saying, “Our members have very legitimate questions about it, and we’ve had some conversations about… how we might make sure that it’s fenced in appropriately.” Reportedly, Republicans are trying to find ways to stop Jan. 6 convicted rioters from applying for payouts from the Trump anti-weaponization fund. The only problem with that amendment is that Democrats have no incentive to make small changes to a fund they already see as wholly corrupt. They are expected to block any adjustments Republicans attempt to make.