House Republicans Give Wild Defenses of Trump’s Shady Slush Fund

Republicans are going all out to convince the American people that President Trump’s $1.8 billion taxpayer-funded slush fund for his MAGA allies is actually a good thing.Representative James Comer proclaimed that there’s a “need” for the slush fund.“The things they tried to convict him of—it was a joke,” he said Friday. “So I think that there is a need for it. What the president needs to do to be able to get this through is to explain it and have a plan.”Representative Ralph Norman appeared to have no problems with paying those convicted of assaulting police officers, saying Thursday that “January 6 is an issue that was made up in the first place” and a “staged thing from day one.”Representative Jody Arrington called Trump “one of the biggest victims of weaponization” and argued that the slush fund is “an appropriate use of tax dollars.” Representative Dan Meuser went as far as to call the slush fund “reparations to those who were wronged by Biden.”Even House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, the third-highest-ranking Republican in the House, defended the slush fund.“Having your own personal lawyer, at this point, become [attorney general]—AG is the only person who could’ve gotten rid of these audits, right?” CNBC’s Joe Kernen asked Emmer, referring to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s related settlement agreement that the IRS cease all audits of President Trump and his family. “It just looks … smells bad.”“Joe, I think it’s unfair to say it’s just the president who’s upset. Americans are upset. They don’t wanna see their government be used against anyone, Donald Trump or anybody else,” Emmer replied, not engaging with Kernen’s actual point. “It was so egregious what they did to Donald Trump and his family. It’s one of the reasons that he’s back in the office. America wants this cleaned up, and Donald Trump is gonna make sure it is.”KERNEN: The AG is the only person that could've gotten rid of these audits, and it was Trump's personal lawyer. It just smells bad.EMMER: It was so egregious what they did to Donald Trump and his family -- it's one of the reasons he's back in the office. America wants this… pic.twitter.com/JmiQW4RJOA— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 22, 2026Emmer is really arguing that the majority of Americans want their taxes to go towards a slush fund for MAGA sycophants, January 6 rioters, and any other individual or group that felt “targeted” by the Biden administration. He continued pushing this narrative later in the interview.“So we’re all clear, you support the settlement that the president made with—some people would say he made with himself, others would say it was with the AG—you’re supportive of that, you feel like that was totally on the up and up?” Andrew Ross Sorkin asked Emmer.“Let’s see what it is when it comes over to the House. The Senate’s gotta get their work done, Andrew, and you’re asking me to pass judgment on something—”“No, no, no,” Sorkin interrupted. “The settlement unto itself. I’m not talking about the justice fund. The settlement that was made between the president and the administration.… Do you look at that and say ‘that’s totally fine,’ you support how that was done?”Emmer claimed ignorance.“Well, I wasn’t in the room, so I don’t know what the details are. But I can tell you this: No one knows weaponization of government against him and his family better than Donald Trump. He was absolutely raked by these people for years, and the American public knows it,” he concluded.Trump was “targeted” because he incited an insurrection. Now he wants you to pay his damages, and the GOP is acting as if it’s a completely reasonable thing to do—all as this widely unpopular president approaches midterm elections.