Tr*mp is not gonna like what Republicans just did to his ballroom plans

He may have gotten the go ahead for his $1.8 billion slush fund, but Tr*mp might not want to do a victory dance just yet. After four Republicans flipped in Tuesday’s vote, we’re looking at a new House precedent that’s already threatening to tear Tr*mp’s ballroom dreams apart.

In effect, it already has. Yesterday, journalists noticed something interesting about the latest version of the immigration enforcement bill that previously included the $1 billion proposal for ballroom funding—that proposal was now wiped from the package altogether. Earlier in the week, we heard that the GOP was planning on asking for much less than the original proposed sum—now, it looks like they’re asking for bupkis.

“We were told…that the ⁠ballroom money is out,” Senator John Kennedy told Punchbowl News. Even amidst mounting pressure and the results of the May 19 primaries, the 60 votes required to push the funding measure through simply did not materialize.

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Which is horrible news for Tr*mp. And great news for everyone else! The despot may have punished Bill Cassidy and Thomas Massie by spending millions and millions to lose their primaries for them, but that tactic seems to have backfired. Now, an emboldened GOP is ready to fight back, one flip at a time.

Because House Republicans aren’t stopping there—they’re also coming for Tr*mp’s nearly $2 billion weaponization fund. The same reconciliation bill that stripped away the ask for ballroom funding now has language that could change the terms of the slush fund.

“Republicans are not just saying it privately,” Aaron Parnas reports, “they’re saying… publicly that this weaponization fund is not good.”

Cassidy took to X yesterday to go off on the ridiculous optics of the slush fund, while North Carolina Rep. Thom Tillis, another Republican whose term is up this year, summed things up perfectly.

“Imagine that — a fund that is set up to compensate people who assaulted Capitol Police officers,” he said. “How absurd does that sound coming out of my mouth?”

What we’re seeing with this new outcry from Republicans could represent an important shift in Tr*mp’s White House. Instead of allowing themselves to be bullied out of power, Republicans who aren’t in line with Tr*mp’s Neronian tactics aren’t waiting to be voted out of office. They’re using the time they still have in congress to limit the president’s ability to misuse government funds. Which is a lot more than they’ve been doing!

Pennsylvania Senator Brian Fitzpatrick is also joining the call to squash the weaponization fund. Yesterday, he grilled an inceasingly cagey Todd Blanche on exactly who is going to be receiving payouts from the slush fund.

“Under what legal authority is DOJ creating a discretionary compensation fund of this scale without explicit congressional authorization, court approval, or judicial oversight?” He asked on X. “Taxpayer dollars will not be turned into a discretionary payout fund. Transparency is not optional. Accountability is not negotiable.”

Right on, girl. With this many Republicans turning on their leader, even the people committed to staying loyal to Tr*mp are going to have a hard time fighting the majority. If the new reconciliation package hits Mike Johnson’s desk this week, he’s going to have to pass it through in its ballroom funding-free form, and his boss sure isn’t going to be happy.

For the rest of us, it seems like things are finally looking up.

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