Ted Cruz says GOP senators were ‘screaming’ at Todd Blanche during ‘anti-weaponization’ fund briefing

CongressTed Cruz says GOP senators were ‘screaming’ at Todd Blanche during ‘anti-weaponization’ fund briefingThe private meeting came hours before the Senate postponed a critical vote to advance a partisan funding bill for ICE and Border Patrol.Listen to this article with a free account00:0000:00Sen. Ted Cruz called the meeting one of the "roughest" during his tenure in the Senate.Al Drago / Bloomberg via Getty ImagesShareAdd NBC News to GoogleMay 22, 2026, 8:51 PM EDTBy Brennan Leach and Kyla GuilfoilScreaming, yelling and accusations of self-dealing.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.That’s how Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, on Friday described a closed-door meeting with Senate Republicans and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche on the Trump administration’s $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund that’s drawn bipartisan opposition.On his podcast “Verdict with Ted Cruz,” the Texas senator described the meeting as “one of the roughest meetings I’ve seen in my entire time in the Senate.”“Fiery does not begin to cut it,” Cruz said. “My guess is there’re probably 45 senators in the room, at least half of them were blasting the attorney general, and they were pissed.”Senate Republicans met with Blanche on Thursday to discuss the fund, which ultimately derailed a vote on a Republican bill to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol, NBC News previously reported.Add NBC News to GoogleTrump faces GOP resistance on compensation fund, ballroom money02:01Cruz said several of his GOP colleagues felt that they could not politically defend the fund because it appeared as though President Donald Trump “cut a deal with himself.”“There were multiple senators yelling at the attorney general, saying this feels like self-dealing,” Cruz said.The Justice Department did not immediately respond to request for comment on Cruz’s characterization of the meeting.The fund was announced Monday after Trump sai...