Hello readers and welcome back to On Politics. Zach Schermele here, USA TODAY's congressional reporter. It's Thursday. Here in the Capitol, Senate Republicans are in a mood (again). More on that below.
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Blanche tries, and fails, to quell GOP unease
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Unease about the so-called "anti-weaponization fund" reached a fever pitch during a morning meeting with Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. The DOJ's top lawyer was summoned to the Capitol to assuage lawmakers' concerns with what Democrats have characterized as a "slush fund" that may dole out money to individuals who attacked the Capitol during the Jan. 6 insurrection.
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Senate Republicans emerged stone-faced from the huddle with Blanche, Trump's former personal attorney. Before long, they decided to go home, punting on a months-in-the-making budget vote to infuse federal immigration enforcement agencies with more than $70 billion. Trump had initially ordered congressional Republicans to pass that funding by June 1.
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"Obviously our members have very legitimate questions," said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, acknowledging that GOP senators want to make sure the DOJ fund is "fenced in appropriately."
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“It makes everything way harder than it should be," he later said.
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Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) speaks to reporters as he walks into his office at the U.S. Capitol Building on May 21, 2026.
Anna Moneymaker, Getty Images
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Trump halts AI order, citing concerns with overregulation
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Trump told reporters on Thursday he didn't like "certain aspects" of a draft order that White House officials prepared for the president to sign as he raised concerns about overregulating the industry.
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"I think it gets in the way," Trump said, touting U.S. innovation in artificial intelligence. "We're leading China. We're leading everybody, and I don't want to do anything that's going to get in the way of that lead."
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Trump says he'll 'try and make' son's wedding
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Also on Thursday, the president said his eldest son's second wedding this coming weekend would be an intimate occasion and he'd try to attend it, but said it was "not good timing" amid the Iran war. The president referenced the wedding involved "a person I've known for a long time."
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"He'd like me to go," Trump said of his son, Donald Trump Jr. "But it's going to be just a small, little private affair, and I'm going to try and make it."
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New Jersey Sen. Andy Kim, a Democrat, immediately took to social media to make fun of Trump's remarks.
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"My son has a soccer game this weekend," Kim posted on X. "He'd like me to go. I'm going to try. I said, this is not good timing for me. He's a person I've known for a long time."
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Zachary Schermele is a congressional reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach him by email at zschermele@usatoday.com. Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele and Bluesky at @zachschermele.bsky.social.
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Senate Republicans emerged stone-faced from a tense meeting with Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. Then they decided to leave town.
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Donald Trump Jr. and Bettina Anderson could wed as soon as Memorial Day weekend, according to reports. Here’s what we know.
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