Senate Republicans toiled on Tuesday to push forward with a bill to fund President Trump’s immigration crackdown, waiting for a clear statement from the administration that the president was abandoning the idea of a $1.8 billion fund to pay people he says have been victimized by the federal government.
The plan for the fund has generated an intense bipartisan backlash, and many Senate Republicans indicated last month that they would not agree to move forward with the legislation as long as it remained an issue.
On Tuesday, Senator John Thune, Republican of South Dakota and the majority leader, said at a news conference that he expected Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, to address the matter at a House committee hearing in the late afternoon.
Mr. Thune said that he had received a preview from Mr. Blanche of what he planned to say, and that he was hopeful it could revive the stalled legislation.
“His statements are going to be very definitive, very clear, and create the certainty that I hope all of our members, and all of the House members need as well, for us to proceed on the reconciliation bill,” Mr. Thune said.
That could allow the Senate to begin voting as early as Wednesday night on the $70 billion bill to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection.
“If it goes like we are told it will go, there’s a reasonable possibility we will move pretty quickly,” Senator John Kennedy, Republican of Louisiana, said after attending the weekly Republican lunch. “There’s a potential we could start tomorrow night — depending upon what the attorney general says.”
Still, Mr. Thune warned that even with a definitive statement from Mr. Blanche, the bill could still fall short of the 50 votes needed to proceed.
“We have to have Republicans hanging together in order to do that,” he said.
Senators Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska have continued to express concerns about the fund. Mr. Tillis even said he would support a Democratic amendment to block the Justice Department from revisiting the creation of such a fund in the future.
Mr. Thune had said on Monday that he feared if such a provision made it into the bill, Mr. Trump might veto it. Neither the president nor the White House has made an official statement disavowing the fund.
At the same time, Democrats have promised to force Republicans to take tough votes on the subject no matter what Mr. Blanche says.
“If Republicans are really concerned about Trump’s corruption, then prove it,” Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and minority leader, said at a news conference directly following Mr. Thune’s comments. He challenged Republicans to support legislation that would ban any future attempt to create such a fund.
“Support the amendment to ban the slush fund and Trump’s blank check to commit tax fraud,” he said, referring to a deal the president struck with the Justice Department that shields his family and businesses from ongoing audits of their taxes and established the fund.
Robert Jimison and Minho Kim contributed reporting
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