By David Morgan
WASHINGTON, June 4 (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Republicans will have to grapple with the ultimate fate of President Donald Trump's sidelined $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization" fund on Thursday, in a marathon session before voting on a $70 billion bill to fund an immigration crackdown.
Lawmakers are due to begin voting on amendments to the bill shortly before midday. Democrats are promising a vote to end what they call a "slush fund" for Trump's allies, in a bid to force Republicans to openly defy a president who has ended the political careers of prominent lawmakers in recent weeks.
"The first Democratic amendment of vote-a-rama will force every senator to answer a basic question: should taxpayer dollars fund Trump's slush fund, or should it be eliminated once and for all?" Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer's office said in a statement.
The fund, which critics say would allow Trump to use taxpayer dollars to compensate his political allies, has already been put on hold by the White House and Justice Department over fierce opposition from Senate Republicans.
Democrats hope that their legislative onslaught will undermine Republicans in the November midterm elections, in which Democrats are favored to take control of the House of Representatives and could also capture the Senate.
But it was not clear that Republicans would take the bait and vote for the Democratic amendment, which would pass with a simple majority of 51 votes but also derail the bill providing three years of funding for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol.
Republican Senators Thom Tillis and Bill Cassidy, who lost his reelection bid to a Trump-backed challenger last month, are also hoping to bring amendments to end the fund.
“I don't want to join with some Democratic initiative, I want this to be led by Republicans for Republicans,” Tillis told reporters. “We've got a sufficient number of Republicans who have been very clear that they've got concerns here.”
Cassidy has also proposed an amendment to nullify an agreement preventing the Internal Revenue Service from auditing Trump's tax returns.
A number of recent actions by Trump, from seeking $1 billion in taxpayer funding for his White House ballroom and security upgrades to his decision to name political ally Bill Pulte as U.S. intelligence chief, have prompted open criticism from some Republicans.
Democrats are readying a slew of other amendments that would force Republicans to vote on IRS tax protection, the Iran war, Trump's tariffs and actions by immigration enforcement officials, including the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens earlier this year.
(Reporting by David Morgan, editing by Deepa Babington)
