Congress is preparing for a weeklong recess without passing a Republican-backed measure to fund immigration enforcement for the next four years. The legislation faces near-term collapse amid disputes within the Republican ranks over a separate federal fund intended to pay people who claim political persecution. Tensions between President Trump and some Congressional Republicans have become public, with concerns that Trump’s focus on punishing rivals and demanding loyalty could harm GOP prospects in upcoming midterm elections. Trump set a June 1 deadline for party-line immigration funding, but his efforts to mount primary challenges against fellow Republicans may derail the deadline and additional funding for immigration enforcement. Trump has recently helped remove incumbents, backed challengers, and criticized a vulnerable House member, prompting some Republicans to question whether they are needed for legislation to reach the president’s desk.
"Congress is set to leave town for a weeklong recess without passing a Republican-backed measure to fund immigration enforcement for the next four years amid dissent from within their own ranks over a federal fund to pay people who claim to have been politically persecuted. The near-term collapse of the legislation, which is separate from that reparations fund, came as tensions between President Trump and some Congressional Republicans spilled into the open over fears that the president's focus on vanquishing rivals and testing loyalty could cost them in the midterms."
"Trump set a June 1 deadline to pass the party-line immigration funding but now his push for retribution in the form of primary challenges against fellow Republicans may derail not only that deadline, but also additional funding for one of his top priorities, stringent immigration enforcement. In the last week, Trump helped oust two veteran incumbents, endorsed a primary challenger against another and lambasted a Republican House member running for re-election in a toss-up district."
""Get smart and tough Republicans," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "Or you'll all be looking for a job much sooner than you thought possible." But Trump's moves to rail against his own party could end up backfiring, not only in November, but if Republicans, especially members newly-emboldened by a primary defeat, feel more free to push back against the president and his agenda."
""Maybe he doesn't think he needs us," Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, told reporters earlier this week. "But I don't know. Last I checked, the laws don't just appear before his desk to be signed." Pushback on White House ballroom Trump lashed out as Republicans seemed set to exclude two of his pet projects in the immigration enforcement funding bill they are racing to pass this week."
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