Senate Republicans Break With President Trump Over $1.8 Billion Fund

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Alex Ossola (0:18)

SpaceX officially filed for an IPO yesterday, and tonight it has a test flight for a new version of its Starship rocket that's central to its future business.

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Alex Ossola (0:44)

Plus, Senate Republicans are pushing back against President Trump over his $1.8 billion quote anti-weaponization fund.

James Mackintosh (0:51)

Are you losing control of the Senate, Senate Republicans?

Alex Ossola (0:54)

I don't know.

Micah Maidenberg (0:55)

I really don't know. I can tell you, I only do what's right.

Alex Ossola (0:57)

And a French court finds Air France and Airbus guilty in a plane crash that killed more than 200 people, the country's worst ever aviation disaster.

It's Thursday, May 21st. I'm Alex Ossola for the Wall Street Journal. This is the PM Edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories that move the world today.

President Trump and the GOP-controlled Senate are on a collision course. A growing number of senators have publicly criticized the administration's controversial quote, anti-weaponization fund. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said lawmakers had quote, very legitimate questions about the fund. While North Carolina Senator Tom Tillis had some choicer words.

SPEAKER_6 (1:43)

That the payout plot for Punks Fund is in there, there's no way I'm voting for it.

Alex Ossola (1:48)

Those frustrations are now spilling out into the Senate's agenda. For more, I'm joined now by WSJ National Political Reporter Ken Thomas in Washington.

Ken, I know that Republican senators were aiming to pass this $70 billion multi-year package for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol this week. Seems like that has now been pushed. What's going on there?

Ken Thomas (2:08)

This plan has really gone off the rails. There's been frustration mounting on Capitol Hill among congressional Republicans, and we're really starting to see it spill out into the open.

Many Republicans object to the Trump administration's creation of a $1.8 billion fund to compensate people who claim to have been victims of weaponization by the federal government. There are fears on Capitol Hill that this could lead to the compensation of people who were prosecuted in the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol.

Alex Ossola (2:41)

And some of President Trump's endorsements have angered Republicans, right? In Louisiana, Senator Bill Cassidy lost his primary after Trump endorsed Julia Letlo and Trump is opposing Senator John Cornyn's reelection in Texas.

Ken Thomas (2:54)

Trump's decision to endorse Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton over Senator Cornyn has really rubbed people the wrong way in the Senate. Cornyn is really well liked among Senate Republicans. He led the Senate campaign arm for a period.

And so many of the Senate Republicans feel like Trump has really just cut John Cornyn loose and Bill Cassidy again is someone who has been a good member within the Senate Republican Caucus. Many members there see him as a thoughtful senator and these endorsement decisions by Trump has really had a negative effect on relationships between the Senate and the White House.

Alex Ossola (3:38)

Ken, this feels like a pretty dramatic shift for this Congress that has been pretty closely staying in line behind President Trump up to this point. What does this mean for President Trump's agenda ahead of the midterms?

Ken Thomas (3:50)

Some former White House officials I've spoken with say that they think the legislative agenda may just be at a standstill, that we really may not see much more progress on Capitol Hill until after the November elections.

So much of what Congress does is based on vibes and based on relationships with the White House. And that seems to have broken down this week.

Alex Ossola (4:15)

That was WSJ National Political Reporter Ken Thomas. Thanks so much, Ken.

Ken Thomas (4:19)

Thanks.

Alex Ossola (4:23)

President Trump has delayed an executive order that would have given the government more oversight over AI. The president told reporters in the Oval Office today that he didn't want to do anything that would slow the US down in its AI competition with China.

SPEAKER_6 (4:36)

We're leading China. We're leading everybody.

SPEAKER_1 (4:38)

And I don't want to do anything that's going to get in the way of that lead.

SPEAKER_6 (4:42)

We have a very substantial on AI. It's causing it's causing tremendous good.