Trump Weaponization Fund Faces Backlash

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Balance of Power — Trump Weaponization Fund Faces Backlash

Date: May 21, 2026
Hosts: Tyler Kendall, Kailey Leinz (Bloomberg correspondents)
Featured Guests:

• Jeff Mason (White House Correspondent, Bloomberg)
• Patrick McHenry (Former Rep., Bloomberg News Contributor)
• Rick Davis (Partner, Stone Court Capital; Bloomberg Politics Contributor)
• Kristen Hahn (Partner, ROC Solutions; Democratic Strategist)
• Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV, Chair, Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works)

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Overview

This episode focuses on the growing political storm around President Trump’s proposed $1.776 billion “weaponization fund” intended for those claiming to have been targeted by DOJ investigations, as well as a controversial request for new White House ballroom funding. As Congress heads into the Memorial Day break, a $72 billion reconciliation package — mainly supporting border security — is derailed by these additions. The show also updates on the Iran conflict, the Cuba situation, and analyzes the administration’s faltering approval ratings.

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Key Discussion Points

1. Iran Conflict and Strait of Hormuz Dispute

(01:05–05:52)

• President Trump's Stance: Trump rejects Iran’s proposal to impose new tolls on the Strait of Hormuz, calling the waterway “international” and asserting control over passage.
  • Quote: “We want it open, we want it free. We don't want tolls. It's international.” — President Trump (01:31)
• Challenges in Negotiations: Jeff Mason highlights major obstacles — disagreements over Iran's highly enriched uranium stockpile and the geopolitical leverage Iran holds with the waterway.
  • Quote: “Iran is using the Strait of Hormuz as a cudgel and has learned…that it has the upper hand.” — Jeff Mason (02:20)
  • President Trump insists enriched uranium must be removed from Iran, but Tehran refuses. (03:45)

2. White House Actions on Cuba and Venezuela

(05:02–05:52)

• Pressure, Not Invasion: President Trump places US assets near Cuba, post-Raul Castro’s indictment, claiming intent to “help the Cuban people” — compared to the previous approach with Venezuela.
  • Quote: "Not sure the Cuban government will see it that way." — Jeff Mason (05:02)

3. Congressional Gridlock on Funding

(06:39–13:59)

• Iran War Supplemental Funding Delays:

  • Patrick McHenry explains delays in a new funding request arise from unresolved budget priorities and skepticism over President Trump’s decisions.
  • Quote: “For Chairman Cole to say this out loud... means the private conversations have not resulted in a supplemental setup.” — Patrick McHenry (06:39)

• Fragile War Powers Resolutions:

  • Recent votes on war powers are so close they hinge on member absences and personal circumstances.
  • Quote: “This is not the way you run a great ship of state.” — Patrick McHenry (08:10)

• Weaponization Fund and Ballroom Politics:

  • The $1.776B DOJ “weaponization fund,” claimed by critics as a slush fund, is creating a near-impossible political dilemma for vulnerable members.
  • The ballroom addition is seen as less politically salient, but procedural limitations now require Congressional approval.
  • Quote: “[The weaponization fund] is a no-win situation.” — Patrick McHenry (11:12)

4. Senate Stalemate: Funding Fails Before Recess

(25:21–30:31; 31:14–43:05)

• Breaking News:

  • The Senate halts its work and leaves for recess without passing the $72B package due to controversy over the weaponization fund and other “last minute” priorities.

• Sen. Shelley Moore Capito’s Reaction:

  • Expresses deep uncertainty about the fund: “We were just made aware of this probably at the beginning of the week…” (33:13)
  • Emphasizes law enforcement and border security as central, criticizing added priorities for upending negotiations.
  • Confirms Republicans were briefed by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, yet “lingering doubt” remains (32:34).

• Parliamentarian’s Role & Internal GOP Strife:

  • Parliamentarian’s decisions excluded multiple priorities (Secure Service/ballroom) from reconciliation; Trump called for her firing, but Capito rejects this.
  • President Trump’s attacks on unendorsed colleagues (Cassidy, Cornyn) may impede GOP unity on tight votes.
  • Quote: “I don't think anybody wants to fire the parliamentarian… that would not be the direction we want.” — Sen. Capito (36:24)

• Potential for Substantive Changes:

  • Capito hints the ballroom request may shrink; the weaponization fund faces demands for clarity and restrictions.
  • “I need to learn more... I don’t know that it can be tightened enough to satisfy enough people.” — Sen. Capito (34:17)

• Pentagon Funding Crunch:

  • Warnings sounded that Pentagon funds for conflict could run dry within months if no supplemental is approved.
  • Quote: “I personally think we need to fortify our Department of War ... bumping that number significantly.” — Sen. Capito (40:14)

5. Public & Congressional Backlash, Polling Woes

(17:34–24:31)

• Plummeting Approval Ratings:

  • New Fox News poll shows Trump’s approval at only 39% on foreign policy, 61% disapprove overall.
  • Kailey Leinz: “This isn’t only the economy… foreign policy as well.” (17:34)

• Panelist Analysis (Rick Davis, Kristen Hahn):

  • Trump’s inconsistency and lack of clarity on Iran and the Strait causes friction with Gulf allies and in Congress.
  • Hahn: Members are frustrated and wary, especially with reelection looming.
  • Rick Davis suggests Trump must prepare the public for ongoing sacrifices tied to the conflict's effects (esp. gas prices).
    • Quote: “He can’t just say, ‘Hey, we’re taking care of it. Don’t worry, none of this will affect you.’” — Rick Davis (23:19)

6. Economic Pain Points & The Gas Price Dilemma

(41:06–42:42)

• Gas Prices Spike, Relief Uncertain:
  • West Virginia average up to $4.50/gallon; Capito prioritizes ending the Iran conflict to “open up the Straits” as the best leverage to reduce costs.
  • “This hits many people, the ones who can least afford it the most.” — Sen. Capito (41:31)

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Noteworthy Quotes & Timestamps

• “We want it open, we want it free. We don't want tolls. It's international.” — President Trump (01:31)
• “Iran is using the Strait of Hormuz as a cudgel… it has the upper hand.” — Jeff Mason (02:20)
• “For Chairman Cole to say this out loud in public is a significant thing…” — Patrick McHenry (06:39)
• “[The weaponization fund] is a no-win situation … you are in the crosshairs.” — Patrick McHenry (11:12)
• “[Congress] will have to step in with the supplemental. They will have to… you cannot get around it.” — Patrick McHenry (09:53)
• “We were just made aware of this probably at the beginning of the week…” — Sen. Capito on the weaponization fund (33:13)
• “[On firing the parliamentarian:] I don't think anybody wants to… that would not be the direction we want.” — Sen. Capito (36:24)
• “He can’t just say, ‘Hey, we’re taking care of it. Don’t worry, none of this will affect you.’” — Rick Davis (23:19)
• “This hits many people, the ones who can least afford it the most.” — Sen. Capito (41:31)

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Timeline of Key Segments

• 01:05–05:52: Iran, Strait of Hormuz, uranium stockpile, Cuba policy
• 06:39–13:59: Patrick McHenry on supplemental Iran funding, war powers, political binds
• 17:34–25:21: Approval ratings, White House messaging, Congress's role
• 25:21–30:31: Breaking: Senate leaves without a budget vote; sources of deadlock
• 31:14–43:05: LIVE: Sen. Capito dissects the weaponization fund, ballroom debate, and law enforcement funding
• 41:06–42:42: Capito on gas prices and economic impacts

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Tone & Atmosphere

• Original Language / Tone: The conversation is direct, analytical, and sometimes exasperated; guests show bipartisan frustration with opaque White House decisions and Congressional gridlock.
• Notable Moments:
  • Political excitement over rare bipartisan housing deals;
  • Capito’s candor about “deep uncertainty” over rushed proposals;
  • Real-time Senatorial reaction to breaking news.

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Conclusion

This episode captures a Congress at an impasse — with both parties skittish over a sweeping new “weaponization” fund whose purpose and limits are unclear, and as supplemental war funding for Iran hangs in the balance. The White House’s attempts to muscle through its priorities are stalled by procedural rulings, internal GOP divisions, and a barrage of public disapproval, all in an election year where political consequences loom large.

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Transcript

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[Tyler Kendall]

I'm Tyler Kendall here in Washington alongside Kailey Leinz, and earlier today, Iran's ambassador to France told Bloomberg News that the country is working on a formalized system with Oman to charge tolls through the Strait of Hormuz as Iran continues to grip on to its control when it comes to the waterway. President Trump, moments ago in the Oval Office, told reporters that he doesn't like that idea.

[President Donald Trump]

We want it open, we want it free. We don't want tolls. It's international. It's an international waterway. They're not charging tolls right now. They are losing $500 million a day is what it's projected. I don't know. It sounds like a lot of money, but whether it's 500 or 200 or 300, they're losing a lot of money. There hasn't been a ship that's been able to get through without our approval.

[Kailey Leinz]

That was President Trump's response to a question asked by Bloomberg's very own Jeff Mason, who was in the Oval with the president and is now on the North Lawn of the White House, joining us here on Bloomberg TV and Radio. So, Jeff, it seems that Iran is clearly on a different page than President Trump when it comes to this issue, but the president still maintains that this conflict is going to end soon. How is that going to happen if these two sides are still this far apart?

[Jeff Mason]

Well, that's a great question. He did say that he thinks it's going to end soon, but he obviously does not see the Strait of Hormuz in the same way that Iran sees it. And the big question will be whether or not that's a big enough sticking point to prevent them from receiving or getting to a peace deal or whether that's something that the president is willing to table. And we don't know the answer to that. What we do know is Iran is using the Strait of Hormuz as a cudgel and has learned over the last several weeks of this war that it has the upper hand with regard to the Strait of Hormuz. And so the question is, does the does the rest of the world accept that, and in particular, does President Trump accept that, or does it does it derail a peace deal that they're currently working on putting together?

[Tyler Kendall]

If you're joining us on Bloomberg Television, you can see the honor guard behind Jeff Mason on the White House North Lawn as President Trump gets ready to participate in an ambassador credentialing ceremony. That's also why you're hearing those horns blare there. It's a very busy day at the White House. Jeff, I also want to ask you about another sticking point that we know has come up in the negotiations, including the stockpile of already highly enriched uranium. I know that you brought this up in the Oval Office. Where does President Trump stand on how critical that is for a deal? And what do we know about how the US Is eyeing either retrieving or retracting that enriched material?

[Jeff Mason]

Yeah, Tyler, it certainly is another one of those sticking points. And I did ask the president about that, whether or not Iran can hold on to that stockpile. And he said no, that they would that that would have to be taken out of the country. But he did not give details as to how that would be done. And Iran, in the latest reporting is the Iranian supreme leader is saying that that is not to be taken out of the country. So that seems like another potential big hurdle to a peace deal. And the question is, again, how firm is President Trump on this issue and how much is he willing to compromise on it with Tehran?

[Kailey Leinz]

And Jeff, finally, obviously background, eh?

[Tyler Kendall]

Yeah.

[Kailey Leinz]

The accompaniment of your report is really amazing. We got some incredible horn and drum action going on. And you are doing a remarkable job working through that. We'll make you do that for just a minute longer. Jeff, I also want to ask you about Cuba after the indictment of Raul Castro yesterday. Do you see the White House is setting the stage here for an action like we saw in Venezuela with Nicolas Maduro? Or is this more a pressure campaign to avoid having to turn to kinetic activity?

[Jeff Mason]

Well, also a good question. And he was asked about Cuba in the Oval Office again today, the president saying that the placement of a battleship or of US Assets there was not meant to intimidate Cuba. And yet he clearly has Cuba on his mind and so does Marco Rubio and so does this whole administration. The president has not wanted to give details, excuse me, about what they're planning and he didn't give any additional details today. He has said previously when we've asked him about it that he would get to that basically after Iran, but they clearly have something in mind. What exactly that is, if it's comparable to Venezuela or something else is hard. But the way he described it today was he wanted to help the Cuban people. Not sure the Cuban government will see it that way.

[Tyler Kendall]

All right, Jeff Mason, Bloomberg News White House correspondent. One of the nicest hits that we've heard in a while. Jeff, thanks so much. And to continue the conversation, we want to bring IN Now Patrick McHenry, former Republican congressman from North Carolina, Bloomberg News contributor, as well as the former House Financial services committee chair. Mr. McHenry, thanks so much for being here. Nice to see you in studio. We have a lot that we want to get to, but I actually do want to start on foreign policy because we haven't seen the administration submit a supplemental funding request to Congress yet when it comes to Iran. We heard just yesterday from the House Appropriations Chair, Tom Cole, who said that Pentagon is maybe months away for running out of funding when it comes to the conflict. Why do you think that we haven't seen that yet? Does this have to do with policy? Does this have to do with procedure? And when could we expect that to happen?

[Patrick McHenry]

It's a prioritization on Capitol Hill. So what you heard from Tom Cole is roughly an August date that the Department of War would have some real challenges on funding the Iran war. For, for Chairman Cole to say this out loud in public is a significant thing, which means the private conversations have not resulted in a supplemental setup to Capitol Hill. This is, this is a couple of things happening at once. One, the first prioritization is to reopen the Department of Homeland Security and Border Security. And that is still work left undone. You have to have this reconciliation process, the budget process to go through, which is a complex months long thing that's not done, number one. Number two, we hear some itchiness, I'm going to say itchiness, around policymakers on Capitol Hill about recent decisions the president's made. I'm sure we're going to talk about those things.

[Kristen Hahn]

Oh, yes, sir.

[Patrick McHenry]

And then three, you then have to have some sort of formulation of what the end game is. And are we near the end game at Iran. And this has been far more difficult than anticipated, at least at the outset of the war.

[Kailey Leinz]

Well, just on the notion of some pushback we're seeing on Capitol Hill, we saw yesterday Senator Bill Cassidy fresh off his primary loss, joining with three other Republicans and Democrats to advance a war powers resolution in the Senate, in the House. Last time we saw this, it was tied. And I wonder if you think the next time a war powers resolution comes up to a vote in your old chamber that it might actually pass.

[Patrick McHenry]

It's now up to sicknesses, absences. It is up to people having family, family issues on whether or not we have the president has the authorization to continue his strikes with Iran. This is not the way you run a great ship of state. And that's how close these votes are on Capitol Hill, both in the House and the Senate. And that's before the latest set of politics around primary elections and what that means, this is a very complicated beast before, you know, before these latest votes on Iran, war power, on war powers generally, but specifically with Iran. Now, what you've heard from the administration in their testimony on Capitol Hill, both with the secretary of War, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is that there's a pause and therefore these timelines don't matter because we have paused our actions with Iran. This is really a question of how do you, how do you Congress enough time to process, but also how do you have clarity on the sort of course of action with Iran? These two things are in direct conflict, especially with diminishing dollars in these accounts necessary to go to go carry out the war.

[Tyler Kendall]

But a war powers resolution is largely symbolic, right? Because even if this passes Bill Chambers, it end up on President Trump's desk. He would veto it. We probably wouldn't see two thirds majority to overturn it. Should we be expecting conversations around other ways that Congress could exert its authority? Would that be tied to the future of an appropriations process related to the war? Or at this point, is it a lot about trying to send a message to the president so that the executive branch can take its own action?

[Patrick McHenry]

Well, Congress is going to have to step in with the supplemental. They will have to. You cannot get around it. These accounts are not big enough for the execution. You cannot replenish sufficiently and people will go to jail for moving money between accounts if they do it inappropriately. This is serious stuff. And so Department of War is expert at how to utilize those accounts. And that's what you heard from Chairman Cole, is that the end date is really close. Congress has very few days between now and the August recess to actually deal with this and the canary in the coal mine are these resolutions. And it says that you have to go give a message, not just the American people, but the policymakers on Capitol Hill. Do you have an actual plan to bring things to a resolution? And in the backdrop of this are really tough politics for the White House and for my, my Republican Party.

[Kailey Leinz]

Well, let's talk more about tough politics. It's pretty tough politics to ask vulnerable members to not only fund a ballroom at the White House, but also essentially to bless a $1.776 billion weaponization fund that could, without restrictions, potentially go to people like attacked police officers at the Capitol on January6. How difficult would those votes be to take for your former colleagues? And do you expect they ultimately will, will have to. What's the consequence?

[Patrick McHenry]

Well, in the Senate, Leader Schumer has already said he's going to put the, the slush fund, the DOJ slush fund as a part of this reconciliation process. It will be a part of the votes. It will be symbolic. Sy. Yes, but that is a one, that's a vote that hurts if you're on the November ballot. If I was a sitting member of Congress right now, I would absolutely hate this vote. It is a no win situation. You are in the crosshairs with a Republican president who's super popular with a base and you need to have the base turnout in a midterm election. And then the rest of the American people think this is absurd. And so you're it really put in crosshairs. I'd rather be the Democrats on that vote. I would rather be the Democrats on the vote. As far as far as the ballroom, I think this is blown up into something that people largely don't care about. The president's raised private money to go build something that most presidents have said need to happen. You need to have a secure facility. We just had an event with the President and the most secure large ballroom and capital in the nation's capital. And and so it says something needs to happen. Now this has all been the notion was it's going to be private, privately funded. What we've then had is a lawsuit to say actually you can't do a full funding of this through private donations. We have laws on the books that say you can gift the government certain pieces of technology, certain pieces of, of facilities. And so they do need authorization from, from Congress to actually go carry out the rest of the build for the ballroom. So both these votes, one I disregard the ballroom as like A salient political thing other than a talking point. But the slush fund at the doj, when I was a member of Congress and President Obama did this sue and settle with liberal and Democratic constituencies, we had a resolution in the House floor which we passed with Republican votes and a handful of Democratic votes against a slush fund like this. Sue and settle slush fund. This has been ramped up and now you have a majority of the Senate speaking out against it and a majority of the House speaking out against it. This is really troublesome for the White House.

[Tyler Kendall]

It is interesting to me that these two Republican led policies are now causing these problems for Republicans on a day that I think it's fair to say this actually would have been a positive day for Republicans. Right, because they're getting through funding for immigration priorities without curbs from the Democrats that they had demanded. That's why we're in this reconciliation process, so that they can get this done with a simple majority at a certain point. Is this a messaging problem or a policy problem for Republicans when you would have thought that the White House would have been touting that they're funding ICE and tick.

[Patrick McHenry]

Yes, but events overtake. And this is what happens when, when you're a governing majority, events overtake. Your prioritization, your messaging capacity and trivialities of the day can dominate the news rather than the substance of what you're trying to achieve. That's not new. It's just, it's just ramped up to 11 here in the Trump era because there's so much noise. Some coming draft directly the White House as a, as a media strategy, but there's so much noise. Border security is still a winning issue for Republicans and President Trump. It has not been talked about as a great success of this administration. They should tout it more and this should be a great sign of victory. Then you saw just this week as well, the President's priorities on housing came out of the House as well.

[Kailey Leinz]

I'm so glad you raised this. I did want to ask you about it because the House tweaked the Senate's version, sent it back. It seems the Senate wants to tweak it back. And I wonder how you think this ultimately gets resolved.

[Patrick McHenry]

I think as a traditionalist, as a former legislator, right. For 20 years, the craft of legislation is this art of caring about policy, fighting tooth and nails about, about things of substance that do impact people's lives, that can make a difference. And then largely the, the body politics says, why are you fighting about that? It's like too specific. Right. The specifics here are that you have a passionate group in the Senate and a passionate group in the House and they're trying to compare who can get the bigger bipartisan majority to move their policy. I think that is a win for traditionalism and like this process working in Washington. I love it. And French Hill and Maxine Waters, who I spent, yeah, I spent most of my waking hours with these two folks in my final years in Congress to see them work out a deal and get a bigger bipartisan majority in the House than in the Senate on this policy issue of housing. It shows that they have stick and they've got the support of the President. Maxine Waters has auto bill the president would like to sign. Man oh man, I think it's an awesome thing.

[Kailey Leinz]

I haven't seen Patrick McHenry this excited in a while. Mr. Chairman, politics contributor, thank you for joining us here on Balance of Power on Bloomberg TV and Radio.

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Stay with us On Balance of Power. We'll have much more coming up after this.

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[Kailey Leinz]

The numbers are starting to head in the more positive direction, at least for US equities, and we'll continue to keep you apprised of that here on Bloomberg TV and Radio. The numbers, though, are trending in a less positive direction when it comes to President Trump and his approval. And that was borne out once again in a poll released by Fox News yesterday evening, which showed the president at 61% disapproval of that, 48% strongly disapprove of his policies overall. And fascinating, Tyler, that this isn't only the economy, although he is underwater on that issue with 77% saying that the economy is worse, but foreign policy as well. If you look at the figures in this poll, only 38% approve of the president's foreign policy, 62% disapprove of it. And of course, this is, as the president is right now navigating a number of foreign policy challenges, trying to find an end game on Iran, dealing with the aftermath of Venezuela and trying to decide, I guess, how involved he wants to get in Cuba.

[Tyler Kendall]

Right. As we see the administration take some updated steps yesterday with this indictment against Raul Castro. We had the CIA director in Havana the other day. So things are definitely starting to mount. And the polling is interesting, too, because at this point, foreign policy and economic policy are dovetailing. And of course, the economy is the issue that President Trump won on when it came to securing the White House last November. We'll see what happens when it comes to this November. For more, we want to talk about all of this with our political panel today. Rick Davis, partner at Stone Court Capital and Bloomberg Politics contributor, and Kristen Hahn, partner at ROC Solutions and a Democratic strategist. Rick, I want to start with you with some of the headlines that we're getting from President Trump earlier today. When it comes to the conflict in Iran, he says he's not too happy about some plans that Iran may be mulling with Oman when it comes to tolls in the Strait of Hormuz, there's this analysis cited by the Wall Street Journal that finds it's going to be Gulf partners that end up paying the bulk of those tolls. I'm curious your view on how this administration has been working with regional allies and how that may temper what ends up happening when it comes to the White House's response in ending this conflict.

[Rick Davis]

Yeah, it's really been a mixed bag. You've seen periods of time where even Donald Trump said, hey, maybe we'll get in on the act and charge a toll. So he's been a little inconsistent on this since day one. And, and you're right. I mean, he's getting lobbied by the Saudis, by the UAE folks, the Qataris, those folks in Oman who have that Musindam, that would be the pinch point on the Strait of Hormuz. And, and really, there has never really been a real articulation of administration policy as to how ultimately the strait gets reopened and how ultimately it remains an open international body of water and not overtaken by Iran's economic interests, not even to mention their security interests. So it's, it's, it's right now a bit of a ping pong ball bouncing back and forth all over the gcc. And where that ball stops right now, I'd say nobody knows.

[Kailey Leinz]

Well, nobody knows and it doesn't seem Congress is going to be in the know on this either. They have been left with a lot of questions to this point, Chris, and we hear that consistently on this program as the President mulls his options here as openly, he's considering what he calls a, quote, big hit on Iran to try to get them to come to the negotiating table or to acquiesce in a more meaningful way. I wonder how you think it factors into the calculus, what response might come from Congress if he were to choose that action because his argument to them was the clock is no longer running on war powers because the Connecticut was part of this conflict is, is actually over if it restarts. Do you think something materially changes with even Republican majorities on the Hill?

[Kristen Hahn]

I mean, I think that there are a lot of considerations here. I think a lot of the members in the public, but the members are frustrated with the lack of clarity on the direction of the White House and the President. It's certainly a ping pong he's been going back and forth. And I think that you'll see frustrations continue to grow, not just with the fact that members on both sides of the aisle believe that they have a role to play here. And you know, the President and the White House using semantics in some ways to describe, you know, what this actually is to get around, to get around Congress. But you will see frustrations. There's also the political calculation. I think that a lot of these members, particularly in the House, the ones that have to run every two years, are facing reelection. And there is an electorate that is not happy with being involved in a conflict like this, particularly when the President said that he wouldn't get involved in this manner when he was running for office. So I think that there's a lot that these members are going to have to consider and it could change how they are operating.

[Tyler Kendall]

Rick, one of the headlines that crossed when President Trump was addressing reporters in the Oval Office earlier was that gasoline prices will drop once Iran ends. He's repeatedly said that this is going to be a short Term disruption. I'm wondering from your expertise when it comes to political messaging how the White House should be messaging around this deal. When you hear the president say that he is trying to prioritize making sure that Iran doesn't get a nuclear weapon.

[Rick Davis]

Yeah, this is the classic, you know, Gretzky rule. You want to be where the puck is going, not where the puck is. And so as he's talking about trying to make people feel better about $5 gas, what he's really wants to focus on is, you know, September, October,

[Jeff Mason]

the

[Rick Davis]

first week of November, where gas price is going to be. And by everybody's estimation that I've seen, it's going to still be elevated, maybe not as high as it is today, but all that depends upon what happens in the Gulf. And so I think I would be starting to create an expectation, you know, to consumers that, you know, we're in for a bit of a ride and that this is part of our patriotism and that this is okay to sacrifice for, you know, a greater good and opening of the strait and stopping, you know, terrorists from having nuclear weapons. I mean, like at some point he's going to have to create, at least he should, some kind of buy in with the American public on this war. He can't just say, hey, we're taking care of it. Don't worry, none of this will affect you. And the mistake that previous presidents have made, and George Bush made this himself after 9, 11, he said everybody needs to just go back and start shopping in malls. And what he probably should have been saying is we all have to start making some sacrifices to keep our country safe. Donald Trump could take a page out of that book.

[Kailey Leinz]

Well, on this notion of buy in, Kristen, we're about three months into this thing. Now is the time for buy in passed.

[Kristen Hahn]

I mean, I think that Rick's exactly right setting expectations, but you know, what are those? And you know, I think in a lot of ways the messaging war is well underway. You've had a number of different of the primaries which the president has been actively involved in motivating his base. And that's very different though, than a general election. So I think in a lot of ways, you know, a lot of money is going to be spent on both sides, but we're kind of down, down the line here. That said, you know, three months is an eternity in politics and a lot of people will start paying attention. I just don't think that the American public is going to shift and move that quickly on something like a war overseas.

[Tyler Kendall]

We have Some breaking news crossing the terminal as we speak. The Senate will leave for recess without a budget vote, according to Republican senators addressing reporters on Capitol Hill. Rick, we had been waiting for this reconciliation package to come up for a vote, but it appears that it could have been derailed by some of the tricky provisions that might have been attached to it, including money for an anti weaponization fund that President Trump has been seeking. I'm wondering what your reaction is to this news. Is this going to hurt Republicans priorities when we know that so far it's been tied to trying to get this funding done when it comes to the immigration agenda?

[Rick Davis]

Yeah, as we know, Donald Trump said, I want this package on my desk by June. And there's no chance that that's now going to happen with the Senate leaving. And look, some of it is the art of the legislative. I mean, the parliamentarian ruled that they could not include the Secret Service funds in this package. And so the staff's been trying to figure out how to work around that. This is very artful work by professional staffers who are, you know, very good at trying to find workarounds. But, you know, the clock ran out and this Congress has not shown a willingness to, to stay in and work hard over weekends. And so it doesn't shock me a bit that they wouldn't want to take any hard calls, especially on issues that they know are unpopular. If this were something that the American public was going to applaud, they'd stick around and get it done. But in this case, the headlines isn't about immigration and stopping bad people. It's about basements and payouts.

[Kailey Leinz]

Well, as Rick alludes to the hard work here, Kristen, it's not going to get any easier with the passage of a few more days when they come back from the Memorial Day recess, is it? I mean, aren't, aren't they going to be faced with the same challenges, the same politically difficult votes around either the weaponization fund or the ballroom that Republican senators are still going to have to contend with?

[Kristen Hahn]

Yeah, I mean, same same difficult decision, same issues. I'll just say that, you know, in talking with my friends over in the Senate earlier today, you know, jet fumes are strong. What they kept saying these members wanted to get out of town. They had plans. And I think Rick's right. You know, the, these are very difficult issues. And so it's not surprising at all that they would punt over the holiday weekend and try to deal with them when they come back. There's also work when members leave town. As a former staffer myself. A lot of work can get done on the staff level when members are not there to muck things up for you. So you know, that might be part of the calculus too, that some of this work needs to be done at the staff level behind the scenes. So hopefully they will move, move the ball forward before they actually come back into town of hope.

[Tyler Kendall]

All right, our political panel today, Rick Davis, partner at Stone Court Capital and a Bloomberg Politics contributor alongside Kristen Hahn, partner at Rock Solutions and a Democratic strategist. Just thank you both. Again. This breaking headline, Kelly Lines Senate's leaving Town without a vote on that reconciliation package.

[Kailey Leinz]

Yeah, and we'll get real time reaction from Republican Senator on Capitol Hill. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia is going to join us next, so don't miss that conversation here on Balance of Power on Bloomberg TV and Radio.

[Podcast Host/Interviewer]

Stay with us On Balance of Power. We'll have much more coming up after this.

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listening to the Bloomberg Balance of Power podcast. Catch us live weekdays at noon and 5pm Eastern on Apple CarPlay and Android Auto with the Bloomberg Business app. Listen on demand wherever you get your podcasts or watch us live on YouTube.

[Tyler Kendall]

I'm Tyler Kendall here in Washington alongside Kailey Leinz, where we are tracking some breaking news that happened moments ago. Senators are now set to leave town without a planned vote on a $72 billion reconciliation package that would mostly fund some of President Trump's priorities related to immigration. But Kelly, it appeals appears that that effort has been derailed by some other priorities that were tacked on, including, of

[Kailey Leinz]

course, questions around the weaponization fund of $1.776 billion. For those who feel that they have had the justice system weaponized against them, it seems that that is one of the hurdles to this package that, remember, President Trump wanted on his desk passed by not just the Senate, but the House and there for him to sign by June 1st. Now we're heading into the Memorial Day recess and it looks like that timeline may be slipping. So we want to get real time reaction from Capitol Hill now, as I'm pleased to say. Joining us once again on Bloomberg TV and radio is Republican Senator Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, the chair of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public. Senator, welcome back to Bloomberg. A very simple question for you to start. What happened here?

[Senator Shelley Moore Capito]

Well, I think the $72 billion in reconciliation that covers the law enforcement, the border support, border security, ice, the original mission of this bill is something that's exceedingly significant and it's too bad we're going to have to leave home here and go back home before the those issues. You know, the Democrats just did not want to fund our law enforcement agents. And so but on top of that, the president put some more priorities on there, the weaponization fund and other things. And it just became much more complicated. A lot of questions about what is this fund, who decides who's eligible, how did it come about? Why are we hearing about this now? A lot of uncertainty within the Republican caucus, which I shared. And and so I think the leader decided the better thing is to get these questions answered and come back and deal with this when we come back in June.

[Tyler Kendall]

It's our understanding that the acting attorney general Todd Blanche, was on Capitol Hill meeting with many Republicans earlier today. Senator, can you confirm, were you part of those conversations and were any sort of, of potential compromised compromises talked about that we could hear about once everybody gets back into town, like conditions on who would qualify for this anti weaponization fund?

[Senator Shelley Moore Capito]

Well, yes, the acting attorney general was at a meeting beginning at 11 o'. Clock. I was there. I was, I also had a simultaneous hearing at the same time. But I was definitely in the room. And I can, I can attest to the fact that there were a lot of deep questions, an unanswered question. The acting attorney general did his best to answer those questions, but I still think there was some lingering doubt. And I think that's how you see that reflected in, in the decision to stop the process, get the questions answered and, and move on at a little bit later time.

[Kailey Leinz]

Well, what kind of answers are you looking for, Senator? What kind of restrictions around the use of this weaponization fund, would you support?

[Senator Shelley Moore Capito]

Well, I think the thing is, we were just made aware of this probably at the beginning of the week, as we're, you know, now on Thursday, you know, is there a weaponization availability now under doj? That's one of the questions. Has a fund like this ever been constituted? That's another question. Who would be eligible? What kind of parameters? Who makes the judgments? You know, this. These are the kinds of questions and more specificity that we just didn't see at the beginning and we haven't really had enough time to digest. So I think a lot of it is uncertainty as to what this is and how and who it impacts. And I think that in the end, you know, as prudent lawmakers, we needed to know those answers to those questions.

[Tyler Kendall]

So should we expect significant curbs to be put on this anti weaponization fund? Should we expect it to not be attached to any legislation going forward? What happens here next? Where did lawmakers leave it? Considering, as Kayleigh mentioned, we know President Trump wanted an entire bill on his desk by next month?

[Senator Shelley Moore Capito]

Well, I mean, the way I would look at it is the most important thing that the president wants is he wants his law enforcement entities under Homeland Security funded through the rest of his term. We know the Democrats will absolutely not fund our Border Patrol agents, which, by the way, by the way, now the border is pretty much sealed off. They will not fund ice. And these are critical, critical entities in terms of preserving and keeping security here domestically. I think that's the core of what we need to address first. And that's what the president wanted on his desk. And we could have probably gotten it there had we not had some extra things added that we just had questions about. So I don't know where this goes. I don't know that anybody really knows. I don't know that it can be tightened enough to satisfy enough people. I'm sort of in the category of I need to learn more here before I can make that decision. Also, there were questions about the extra money for the ballroom edition. What is that going to be spent for? What really, the core Secret Service mission is the parliamentarian. You saw knockout a lot of that out, which created some questions as well. That was just at the beginning of the week. And so I think if you add all of these things together, we're going to lose that core mission, which is funding Homeland Security, which is what we really need to do. And maybe we come back with just that, or maybe we come back with a much more narrow focus on some of the other things.

[Kailey Leinz]

Senator, we do want to talk to you about other issues as well, but would you be able to confirm that the Justice Department told Republican senators that you too could be eligible for these payouts? What was the messaging around that?

[Senator Shelley Moore Capito]

You know, I didn't, I didn't hear that in the meeting when I was there. As I explained, I wasn't there the entire time.

[Tyler Kendall]

I did want to quickly mention the parliamentarian, since you brought up the senate parliamentarian, Elizabeth McDonough, who has taken out some parts of the priorities when it comes to what actually would fit into a reconciliation package. President Trump has called for firing the parliamentarian. Is that something that you think that this Senate would get on board with?

[Senator Shelley Moore Capito]

No, I don't, I don't think that the Senate has a will to or a desire to fire the parliamentarian. Elizabeth McDonough, she's a professional who's served under both Republican and Democrat leadership. She and this always happens in reconciliation, that certain things don't make it all the way through because of jurisdictional issues, because of financial issues. It could be a whole myriad of reasons. And that's why we have a parliamentarian to be able to objectively look at these things. So it's not unusual for things to come out. Normally you would reshape them and reform them. And then we were in the process of doing that on some of the things that she, the ballroom issue and things like that. So no, I don't, I don't believe anybody wants to fire the parliamentarian. I don't think that would be, I don't think that would be the direction that we would want to go.

[Kailey Leinz]

Well, Senator, clearly the president hasn't been too happy with the parliamentarians rulings. He also hasn't been adequately happy, it seems, with two of your colleagues. Senator Bill Cassidy fresh off of losing his primary to a Trump backed challenger or not making the runoff that includes a Trump backed challenger failing to endorse your colleagues, John Cornyn in his reelection race and runoff in Texas. Has he made it harder on himself to even get enough votes for a partisan process like reconciliation?

[Senator Shelley Moore Capito]

You know, I think time will tell whether those members that are, that the president has not endorsed and actually worked against in Bill Cassidy's case. I think, you know, it remains to be seen what kind of population posture they're going to take. They're both extremely good friends of mine and great gentlemen and have served our country very well. And I think Senator Cornyn is going to win next week. So I think we'll have him back.

[Tyler Kendall]

I wanted to follow up on one thing that you mentioned related to the ballroom. Clearly posed an issue when it comes to this reconciliation package. Can you give us any insight into whether or not there were agreements that that number would be shrunk from that $1 billion figure? How should we be watching that particular issue? Because we heard President Trump in the Oval Office earlier today really saying how this is critical when it comes to security since a lot of that funding would go towards Secret Service and securing the ballroom rather than construction of the ballroom.

[Senator Shelley Moore Capito]

Well, I think, you know, do I think it will shrink? I think in all likelihood, yes. I think that was the direction that we see it headed and that's also the direction that would probably help us in terms of getting this through the parliamentarians rulings and judgments. I think we need to look at this as this is homeland security, it is Secret Service. So what do they need more technology, more training, more fortifications for that facility safety? Maybe they're building skiffs and, and other things. So, I mean, I think the number would be quite robust in any event, but I'm not sure that it would be as expansive and large as what the president has asked for. But that's, again, is not unusual. Many times the president and presidents all throughout the history have asked for certain things that the Congress then uses our will to make those decisions.

[Tyler Kendall]

Yep.

[Kailey Leinz]

It all comes down to the appropriations process ultimately. And you, of course, Senator, sit on the Appropriations Committee, the equivalent committee in the House, obviously led by Congressman Tom Cole. We got some interesting comments from Chairman Cole about the funding still available to the Pentagon to continue on with our operations in the Middle East. He suggested that could run out in a matter of months. And I wonder how quickly you need to have a supplemental funding request in hand to allow avoid the scenario of the Pentagon running out of funds to continue this, assuming that a deal is not reached in time.

[Senator Shelley Moore Capito]

Right. We do need a supplemental request from the White House. They've signaled that they are going to be putting that forward to the Congress. I think what I'm reading is that the secretary or the army and Navy are looking at curtailing certain training missions. I mean, we're in a precarious time here right now where we utilize a lot of our forces in a lot of different ways. So training is exceedingly important, along with technology and technologies and ballistics and missiles and all these things that we are using daily. This is an important request that we want the president to come forward with on the supplemental and then we can then look at the appropriations process to see how big a number. I personally think we need to fortify our Department of War and we need to fortify our troops. And, and that would mean bumping that number significantly. But having a supplemental in front of it would help us determine what that figure would be.

[Tyler Kendall]

The war in Iran, of course, bumping up consumer retail gas prices. The average in West Virginia today, $4.50. I'm wondering if you could give us any update on one where President Trump's push for a suspension, or a temporary suspension, rather, of the federal gas tax stands. And if there's anything else else that Congress could do that could help Americans when it comes to facing these higher fuel costs.

[Senator Shelley Moore Capito]

Well, this is a real issue. You know, I'm from rural America, rural West Virginia. We travel far to go to the grocery store, to go to school, to go to church, to visit your relatives. We're in our cars a lot. And because of those hills, we're expending a lot of gasoline. And so this hits many people, the ones who can least afford it the most. And so I hear a lot of complaints. I hear a lot of it calls into the office really feeling the strain of high gas. What can we do? Well, first of all, I think the president is working to do this, and that's to bring this conflict to an end, open up the Straits of Hormos and then let global oil be flowing. I think that's number one. It has to be the right decision. It has to be the right agreement for the president. I understand that and fully agree with him. But I think expeditiously, that's the best thing we can do. I think we could also work on holding the price down of other things like housing, like, you know, mortgage rates are still way too high. The cost of food, which also is reliant on gas because you use diesel and fertilizer and everything else to grow food. So this is an issue that I think really hits at election time and. But it hits everybody right now. We're going in the summer travel season season.

[Tyler Kendall]

All right. Senator Shelley Moore Capito, Republican from West Virginia and chair of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. Thanks so much for joining us here on Bloomberg Television and radio on the heels of this breaking news that the Senate is set to leave town without a vote on that reconciliation package. Kaylee. It comes after we saw the acting Attorney General, Todd Blanche on Capitol Hill trying to sell lawmakers on this package.

[Kailey Leinz]

Yeah, it seems he had some difficulty selling senators, including, it seems, Senator Capito, who says some of her questions still remain unanswered. So we will continue to follow this story and follow the turnaround in the markets as well, where it's session highs on stocks, oil prices, session lows. We'll have more on the late edition of Balance of Power here on Bloomberg.

[Podcast Host/Interviewer]

Thanks for listening to the Balance of Power podcast. Make sure to subscribe if you haven't already, Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. And you can find us live every weekday from Washington, D.C. at noontime [e-mail]

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