GOP Sens Vow to Nix Funding for ‘Partisan Lawfare’

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Eight conservative senators, led by Utah Republican Mike Lee, released a joint statement Friday vowing to end their support for Democratic priorities in the chamber, including certain types of funding for the Biden administration and confirmation of appointees.

The letter is their response to the conviction of former President Donald Trump on Thursday, an outcome that “made a mockery of the rule of law,” the senators wrote. The senators are ostensibly taking aim at the Department of Justice for what they called “partisan lawfare.”

“Those who turned our judicial system into a political cudgel must be held accountable,” Lee said in a separate post to X, adding, “we are no longer cooperating with any Democrat legislative priorities.”

“To that end, we will not 1) allow any increase to non-security related funding for this administration, or any appropriations bill which funds partisan lawfare; 2) vote to confirm this administration’s political and judicial appointees; and 3) allow expedited consideration and passage of Democrat legislation or authorities that are not directly relevant to the safety of the American people,” the letter stated.

Co-signing the letter were Sens. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., Rick Scott, R-Fla., Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., Marsha Blackburn, R-Tn., and Roger Marshall, R-Kan..

Trump on Thursday was convicted on all 34 counts of falsifying business records in Manhattan, with sentencing set for July 11, four days before the start of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.

“The White House has made a mockery of the rule of law and fundamentally altered our politics in un-American ways. As a Senate Republican conference, we are unwilling to aid and abet this White House in its project to tear this country apart,” the statement began.

House Republicans have filed amendments to appropriations and filed standalone legislation to defund Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office in an effort to end his federal investigations into Trump.