This ‘absurd’ Trump plan was a step too far – even for his party

Since the start of US President Donald Trump’s second term, a Republican-controlled Congress has confirmed almost all his controversial nominees, ceded trade authority to the White House and largely acquiesced as the president started a hugely unpopular war in Iran.

But the administration’s plan to create a $US1.8 billion ($2.5 billion) fund for people claiming political persecution has proved a step too far, triggering a GOP revolt on Capitol Hill that forced the White House to back down. On Tuesday afternoon, acting Attorney-General Todd Blanche announced that the administration is “not moving forward with the fund. Period.”

The standoff revealed new strains in Trump’s relationship with a Congress that has rarely exercised its power to check him, at a vulnerable moment for his presidency. Republicans’ newfound defiance may say less about the fund itself than about a sharply shifting political dynamic that could have consequences for the rest of Trump’s term.

The tensions between the White House and GOP lawmakers are building as the midterm elections approach and Republicans are becoming increasingly concerned about the party’s ability to maintain their narrow majorities in the House and Senate, especially as the president’s policies keep pushing up consumer prices.

“You’re starting to see Republicans want to show some independence from Trump, and this was an easy issue to do it on,” said Alex Conant, a Republican strategist.

“This Congress was already very hard to govern, and it will only get harder as Trump becomes less popular and the midterms draw nearer. There’s a lot of frustration with the political situation that they find themselves in.”

Republican strategists viewed the deeply unpopular fund as a particular political liability. In a May Economist/YouGov poll, 49 per cent of respondents said they opposed the fund, including 48 per cent of Trump voters and 45 per cent of those who identified as MAGA supporters. And Senate Republicans had a direct way to show their displeasure – by blocking a $72 billion immigration enforcement funding package that Trump badly wants.

Many Republican lawmakers and strategists struggled to figure out how to even talk about the fund, amid criticism that it amounted to Trump self-dealing and rewarding his political supporters.

“People that have pled guilty to physical acts against the president may actually be able to get compensated. How absurd does that sound coming out of my mouth?” said Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina. Tillis decided to oppose Trump’s spending bill last year and is not ru