Democrats’ Ability To Rein In Trump’s War Powers, Block ‘Anti-Weaponization’ Fund Comes Down to Attendance

With Speaker Mike Johnson holding a mere three-seat majority, every vote counts. On Thursday, a War Powers Act resolution brought by Democrats will either pass or die thanks not to ideological difference, but due to attendance. The fate of DHS funding, ballroom construction, and the president’s “anti-weaponization” compensation fund could rely on the same thing. Last week, a war powers resolution failed by just one vote with the House tied, 212–212. Had one 83-year-old Democrat, Congresswoman Frederica Wilson, been in attendance last week, the measure would have passed. She missed one month of work in Washington but returned to Capitol Hill on Wednesday following a surgery. A Republican, Congressman Tom Kean, has been missing for more than two months. Now that Ms. Wilson — a war powers resolution supporter — has returned, Democrats can pass the war powers resolution by a single vote, assuming all three Republicans who voted for the last resolution side with all Democrats and Mr. Kean remains absent. The problem for the House minority leader, Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, however, is that a GOP war powers backer, Congressman Thomas Massie, is staying home in Kentucky after he was defeated in his Republican primary on Tuesday. Assuming all Democrats and the two present Republican war powers supporters — Congressmen Brian Fitzpatrick and Tom Barrett — the resolution will still fail by a margin of one vote. The issue of attendance became apparent on Wednesday when 15 lawmakers missed all votes. The issue was bipartisan, with five Democrats and ten Republicans missing all 11 votes on Wednesday. The third-highest ranking House Democrat, Congressman Pete Aguilar — who is poised to become the majority whip if Democrats flip the House — made clear Wednesday that he is frustrated by all absences. “I don’t have any comment or anything new on absences on either side, whether it’s Mr. Kean” or anyone else, Mr. Aguilar told the New York Sun, referring to his missing Republican colleague. “Our expectation, whether you’re a ranking member of a committee or whether you’re Democratic leadership, our position is that members show up and vote. That’s our job,” he said after being asked about Ms. Wilson’s absence. “Our job is to be here and vote.”Full attendance will not only be critical on the war powers resolution vote for Democrats, but critical for Department of Homeland Security funding and the White House ballroom construction as well. Republicans are currently agonizing over how to work to fund Mr. Trump’s mass deportation operation on a party-line vote. After Democrats and Republicans failed to reach an agreement on reforms to multiple immigration enforcement agencies over the course of the last four months, the GOP has embraced a go-it-alone strategy which requires near-total unity among House and Senate Republicans. The real sticking point for the Senate GOP now is Mr. Trump’s demand for a $1 billion security package which would help him build his ballroom where the East Wing once stood. Multiple senators — many of whom have been freed from presidential coercion tactics thanks to either looming retirement, personal moderation, or Mr. Trump’s ire — have now made clear that they cannot vote to fund the ballroom project. If the Senate Republicans fail to do so, House Republicans may object to the DHS funding measure purely out of a desire to appease President Trump. For moderates and deficit hawks, Mr. Trump’s $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” compensation fund for those investigated or prosecuted during the Biden administration has also become an issue. “People are concerned about paying their mortgage or rent, affording groceries and paying for gas, not about putting together a $1.8 billion fund for the President and his allies to pay whomever they wish with no legal precedent or accountability,” Senator Bill Cassidy, a Republican who lost his primary over the weekend due to Mr. Trump endorsing against him, said in a statement Wednesday. “This is adding to our national debt. If there needs to be a settlement, the administration should bring it to Congress to decide,” Dr. Cassidy wrote. Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick — one of three House GOP lawmakers currently serving in a district won by Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024 — says he plans to introduce a legislative measure to kill the $1.8 billion “slush fund,” as Democrats have called it. Mr. Aguilar, however, did not seem incredibly optimistic that a critical mass of Republicans would side with Democrats to block the “anti-weaponization” fund. “I appreciate that members have comments about this and that they’re speaking up about it,” Mr. Aguilar told the Sun. “It doesn’t matter unless they actually use their vote to get rid of it.”

Democrats’ Ability To Rein In Trump’s War Powers, Block ‘Anti-Weaponization’ Fund Comes Down to Attendance

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