Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., holds a news conference at the U.S. Capitol about Senate Republicans postponing a vote on the budget reconciliation bill to Thursday, May 21, 2026.
Tom Williams | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | getty images
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. Said on Monday that Democrats will force Republicans to vote on the controversial “weaponization” legal relief fund proposed by President Donald Trump.
The fund, aimed at compensating victims of what the administration calls “lawfare,” has become a political flashpoint on Capitol Hill, prompting rare Republican criticism of Trump within his political party. Democrats are now trying to turn it into a bazooka to force Republicans to defend the program or vote to eliminate it.
“This week, Senate Democrats will launch a coordinated effort to eliminate the slush fund before one cent is gone,” Schumer wrote in a “Dear Colleagues” letter sent to Senate Democrats on Monday. “And no matter what the Republicans do, we will force them to vote.”
The fund helped stall Senate proceedings last month when Republicans were trying to use the budget reconciliation process to fund immigration law enforcement agencies within the Department of Homeland Security. Some Republicans told Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche in a closed-door meeting that they opposed the fund when he came to Capitol Hill to explain it.
It is unlikely that Democrats will be able to block the funds legislatively unless Republicans join with them. But they could force an inconvenient vote for Republicans less than six months before the election.
A Virginia court on Friday temporarily blocked the Justice Department from taking further action to create the fund or distribute money from it.
If Republicans return to the delayed measure this week, it would allow Democrats to introduce unlimited amendments.
“If Republicans return to reconciliation, we will be ready with amendments to close the fund,” Schumer said in a letter to his caucus. “If they try to suppress the issue, we will force them onto the Senate floor. If they try to hide behind appropriations, we will fight them there as well.”
Critics, including Democrats, have called the effort a “slush fund” that could be used to pay the Jan. 6 rioters who attacked police at the U.S. Capitol.
The fund comes after Trump dropped his $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax information in 2019 and 2020. In exchange for dropping the lawsuit, the Justice Department created a $1.8 billion fund to compensate people who say they are victims of what the Trump administration refers to as “lawfare.”
When the funds were announced, Blanch said in a statement, “The machinery of government should never be weaponized against any American, and this department intends to correct the mistakes made before and ensure they never happen again.”
“As part of this agreement, we are establishing a legal process to listen to and redress victims of legal violence and weapon use,” said Blanch.