The Daily Brief — May 21, 2026
Capitol police officers sue Trump; immigration funding bill on hold; and the White House must comply with the Presidential Records Act
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Senate Postpones Vote on Immigration Bill
The Senate abruptly postponed plans to vote this week on a roughly $70 billion bill to fund immigration enforcement agencies, leaving Washington for the Memorial Day recess without acting on one of the president’s top priorities.
The delay came after discussions over a Justice Department program known as the “anti-weaponization fund” complicated the legislation. The fund is a $1.776 billion pool of taxpayer money the administration wants to use to compensate people who say the Biden administration unfairly targeted them.
Republicans were planning to move the immigration bill through reconciliation, a process that lets a simple majority pass certain budget measures in the Senate, bypassing the 60-vote threshold that’s usually required.
Democrats had made clear they would seek to amend the budget reconciliation bill through a process called a “vote-a-rama,” in which members of Congress are allowed to propose an unlimited number of amendments in rapid succession, often lasting many hours or all night.
Before the postponement was announced, Republican senators met with Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche at a closed-door meeting that ran more than two hours. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), the Senate’s top appropriator, said, “I do not support the weaponization fund as it has been described.” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) threatened to vote against the bill if it includes the fund, calling the $1.776 billion fund a “payout pot for punks.”
No Democrats were invited to Blanche’s meeting with GOP senators. According to Liz Oyer, the DOJ’s former pardon attorney, Blanche sent senators a one-page overview of the fund — which has not been made public — before the meeting. According to Oyer, who reviewed the memo, Blanche asserted that senators themselves would be able to file for compensation from the fund if they were “victims” eligible for payment.
White House Ballroom Funding May Be Stripped from Spending Bill
Republicans are expected to drop $1 billion in funding tied to President Trump’s White House ballroom project from the immigration enforcement bill.
The money would have paid for Secret Service security upgrades at the White House complex connected to the new ballroom. Last week, the Senate parliamentarian found that the ballroom provision did not qualify for that process and would have to be rewritten or voted on separately.
Capitol Police Officers Sue Trump over Payout Fund
Two police officers who defended the US Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack sued the Trump administration to block the $1.776 billion fund they say could pay some of the rioters they fought that day.
The lawsuit was filed by Harry Dunn, a former Capitol Police officer now running for Congress in Maryland as a Democrat, and Daniel Hodges, a Washington Metropolitan Police officer. They call the fund illegal and argue it would “directly finance the violent operations of rioters, paramilitaries, and their supporters.”
Neither Vice President JD Vance nor Acting Attorney General Todd Blance has ruled out paying those who attacked police. Trump pardoned nearly all of the rioters last year.
Meanwhile, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) has said he will 100% block the taxpayer-paid “anti-weaponization fund.” Fitzpatrick is drafting legislation with Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY) to bar any federal money from being used for it. Fitzpatrick has also sent a letter to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche demanding answers.
Judge Orders White House to Comply with Presidential Records Law
A federal judge ordered White House staff to comply with the Presidential Records Act, the 1978 law that requires officials to preserve their records, including text messages, as public property.
The dispute began in April when the Department released an opinion stating that key provisions of the PRA were unconstitutional and exceeded Congress’s power. As a result, the DOJ opinion stated, President Trump does not have to turn over records to the National Archives.
The watchdog groups and historians — the American Historical Association, American Oversight, and the Freedom of the Press Foundation — who sued said that the guidance created a real risk that records were already going unpreserved. They also argued that the Justice Department opinion defied a Supreme Court ruling that already upheld Congress’s power to require the preservation of presidential records. Judge John Bates agreed there was a “substantial risk” the White House was not complying with the law and issued the injunction.
The order does not apply to President Trump, Vice President JD Vance, the National Archives, the national archivist, the Justice Department, or the attorney general. It covers most White House employees, including Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller. Bates noted that courts generally cannot order the president to perform his official duties.
Newsbreak
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House to Vote on Iran War Powers Resolution
The House is expected to vote today on a resolution to compel President Trump to withdraw from the war with Iran, which he launched more than two months ago without congressional approval.
The measure relies on the War Powers Resolution of 1973, which gives a president 60 days to wage a military conflict before Congress must declare war or authorize military activity. Previous House votes on the proposal failed.
On Tuesday, the Senate voted 50–47 to advance a separate war powers resolution to the floor for debate, not a final vote on the proposal itself. Four Republicans — Sens. Rand Paul, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, and Bill Cassidy, the last of whom voted yes for the first time after losing his reelection primary to a Trump-backed challenger — joined nearly every Democrat. Sen. John Fetterman was the lone Democrat opposed.
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Aimee Bock Sentenced to 42 Years
A federal judge sentenced Aimee Bock, founder of the Minnesota nonprofit Feeding Our Future, to nearly 42 years in prison today for orchestrating what prosecutors call the largest pandemic-era fraud in the country. The judge also ordered her to repay about $243 million.
Bock’s nonprofit and dozens of partners stole an estimated $250 million from a federally funded program meant to feed children during the pandemic. They submitted fake meal counts, falsified attendance rosters, and set up shell companies to collect reimbursements for meals never served — in some cases claiming to feed thousands of children who did not exist.
Bock, 45, was convicted last year on charges including conspiracy to commit wire fraud and federal programs bribery — tied to kickbacks from individuals and companies sponsored by Feeding Our Future and seeking to bill the federal meals program. Prosecutors had sought 50 years. Her attorney asked for about three, saying she had cooperated with the investigators in providing key information about the fraud. Close to 80 people have been charged in the case, and more than 60 have been convicted or pleaded guilty.