Ashley Moody backed proposal to bar ‘anti-weaponization’ payments to J6 rioters who assaulted police

Florida’s junior U.S. senator, Ashley Moody has been a consistent supporter of the Trump administration since she was appointed to her seat by Gov. Ron DeSantis in January 2025.

However, she broke with the administration last week in a vote on an amendment regarding the $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund criticized by both Democratic and Republican senators in recent weeks — though not by Moody.

Florida’s other senator, Rick Scott, voted no on the amendment.

The vote in question took place early Friday morning during debate on a series of amendments offered on the floor before the Senate ultimately approved a $70 billion budget reconciliation package to fund immigration enforcement through 2029 — 52-47.

Before that final vote, Moody joined seven other Republicans in supporting an amendment sponsored by Vermont Democrat Chris Coons to ban payments from the fund to Jan. 6 rioters who were convicted of assaulting law enforcement officers.

“It’s not complicated — if the administration won’t rule out potentially multimillion-dollar payments to those who assaulted police on these grounds, we must,” Coons said on the floor of the Senate.

“I urge my colleagues to take up and pass this amendment alongside me and ensure that taxpayer funds won’t be so badly misused in this way.”

Among the Republicans who joined Moody in supporting the Coons amendment were Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, who recently lost his bid for re-election after Trump endorsed his opponent, also voted for the amendment. It received 54 votes, six short of the number needed to break a fillibuster.

Although acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche has said the fund will not move forward, he told a House committee last week that he would not commit to putting that statement on paper, saying, “I’m not committing to doing anything in writing.” Donald Trump granted clemency to the J6ers on the theory that the Biden administration unfairly prosecuted participants.

On the Senate floor last week, lawmakers failed to pass an amendment sponsored by Cassidy that would have restricted payouts from the fund only to law enforcement officers who died or suffered from the Jan. 6, 2001, attack on the Capitol. And it would have appropriated only $100 million to the fund. It fell eight votes short. Moody did not support that amendment.

Moody’s vote on denying using any money to those who injured police officers on Jan. 6 was a rare break with the Trump administration, but came in support of law enforcement officers, as she has consistently done in her career as both a senator and as Florida attorney general.

“Our law enforcement officers step up every day to protect our communities, and we must have their backs,” Moody said in a press release issued in May when she voted in support of six pro-law enforcement bills out of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

A recent report showed that 97 of the J6 rioters pardoned by President Trump — more than one in 20 — have been arrested, charged, or convicted of other crimes since their release, including child molestation, grand larceny, and deadly conduct.

Moody’s office did not respond to a request for comment. She is running for re-election this fall. The top Democrats in the race are retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Alex Vindman and Jacksonville state Rep. Angie Nixon.