Analysis by WorldTribune Staff, May 22, 2026 Non-AI Real World News

The same Republican-led Senate that refuses to press for the SAVE America Act, which an overwhelming majority of Americans approve of, are now holding up funding of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)  reportedly over the Trump Administration’s establishment of the “Anti-weaponization Fund.”

Angry Senate Republicans are among critics who say the $1.776 billion fund, born out of a settlement reached between the Trump family and the IRS to resolve long-running disputes, was set up to reward President Donald Trump’s supporters, including the J6ers he pardoned.

Are they as out of touch with political reality as they are in synch with legacy media sensitivities?

“I gave up a lot of money in allowing the just announced Anti-Weaponization Fund to go forward,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. “I could have settled my case, including the illegal release of my Tax Returns and the equally illegal BREAK IN of Mar-a-Lago, for an absolute fortune.”

“Instead, I am helping others, who were so badly abused by an evil, corrupt, and weaponized Biden Administration, receive, at long last, JUSTICE!” the president added.

The Justice Department explained who will be eligible to be compensated:

The funds awarded will be determined by a five-person board appointed by the Attorney General, with at least one member selected with consultation with congressional leadership, according to a Justice Department press release. At any point in time, the president has the power to remove a member without cause.

Under the settlement agreement, the Anti-Weaponization Fund will evaluate claims by looking at the “totality of the circumstances.” Those factors considered include how strong a person’s claim is and what evidence supports it, the financial harm they allegedly suffered — including legal fees — whether they spent time in prison and whether they have already received compensation or other relief elsewhere.

“This is about seeking accountability for all Americans who were victims of lawfare and weaponization: millions of Americans whose online speech was censored at the behest of the government, parents silenced at school boards, Senators whose records were secretly subpoenaed, churchgoers targeted by the FBI, and so on,” a Justice Department document stated.

In a post to X, investigative reporter Lara Logan called out Senate Republicans opposed to the fund:

The same Republican-majority Senate that cannot pass the Save America Act which is backed by most Americans, are now whining & complaining about the President’s fund to compensate victims of a weaponized justice system, which is backed by millions of Americans who never want to…

— Lara Logan (@laralogan) May 21, 2026

Lost in the partisan uproar over the new fund is its relevance to ostensibly non-partisan publishers of independent media operations.

‘Weaponization’ Commercially Damaged Independent News Platforms

While Trump has successfully battled legacy media corporations, the algorithmic tyranny coordinated by the Biden Administration continues to punish some alternative media outlets and stifle the free speech of ordinary citizens posting on social media.

“Privately-owned independent media outlets championed by FreePressFoundation.org continue to this day to be suppressed by Big Tech algorithms and policies,” said Robert Morton, who founded the Foundation and publishes WorldTribune.com.

“Reputation tags placed by Google LLC have poisoned the well for news outlets deemed “harmful” by Biden Administration officials,” he added. “Off particular concern to the monitors of editorial content in Washington, DC and Silicon Valley were reports in 2020 and 2021 that questioned the outcome of the 2020 election and the legitimacy of Covid vaccines and related lockdown policies.”

Related — Report: 90 fed agencies involved in Biden censorship directives, March 19, 2025

Such reporting have survived the test of time and raised issues now deemed legitimate. “And yet, many of these news platforms that upheld once sacrosanct principles of the American Free Press are now struggling to survive commercially,” Morton said.

News companies require “market justice,” wrote Free Press Foundation President Larry Ward for Human Events and WorldTribune.com.

Related: ‘Evil’? We couldn’t get Google on the phone but did interview its AI, May 15, 2026

Trump had sought a June 1 deadline for passing a funding measure for ICE, as well as U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

“But that faced stiff headwinds in the Senate that became apparent during a testy closed-door meeting with Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, during which half the conference grilled him over the fund,” the New York Post reported on Thursday.

“We will pick up where we left off,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters about the plan for when the lawmakers reconvene next month.

“It makes everything way harder than it should be,” Thune said of the fund derailing the immigration enforcement bill.

“It is a huge threat to public safety to not have full funding for the heroes of ICE and Border Patrol,” White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller told reporters after the scrapped vote.

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  ‘Pathetic bunch of moral cowards’? Senate Republicans outraged by Trump’s ‘Anti-Weaponization Fund’, WorldTribune.com