The Senate voted early Friday morning to pass a $69.5 billion budget reconciliation package to fund immigration enforcement operations through 2029. But the path to passage was anything but smooth.
The legislation passed 52-47, taking Republicans one big step closer to ensuring that Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol are funded through the end of President Trump’s second term. Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska was the only Republican to vote against it, raising concerns about funding federal agencies for three years through reconciliation instead of the regular appropriations process.
The package now moves to the House, where Speaker Mike Johnson plans to pass it next week.
Trump had given Republicans a June 1 deadline to pass the bill, but that timeline fell apart when Senate Republicans refused to vote after the Justice Department surprised them by announcing the creation of a $1.8 billion fund to pay people who say they were unfairly prosecuted under President Biden.
The Clashes That Almost Derailed the Bill
The Senate finally passed the bill Friday morning after a marathon series of votes over more than 18 hours. The debates were not primarily about immigration. They were about two things: Trump’s proposed White House ballroom and his $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund.
Democrats offered amendments to block the administration from building the ballroom and from establishing the fund. Several vulnerable Republicans broke with their party to vote in favor of those proposals.
The chamber came to a grinding halt on Thursday morning when Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer offered a motion to block the anti-weaponization fund. Three vulnerable Republicans — Senators Susan Collins of Maine, Jon Husted of Ohio, and Dan Sullivan of Alaska — voted for it, putting Schumer’s motion on the cusp of succeeding, which would have derailed the entire bill.
Schumer’s amendment hinged on the vote of Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who lost his primary last month after Trump endorsed his opponent. Cassidy threatened to vote for Schumer’s amendment if he couldn’t get his own amendment adopted to block the fund. After nearly three hours of intense discussions, Cassidy voted against Schumer’s amendment but then went to work on his own proposal.
Cassidy’s proposal would have repurposed the anti-weaponization fund to provide for law enforcement officers who suffered injury or economic loss while defending the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. Six Republicans voted for it, along with all 46 Democrats, but it failed 52-47. It needed 60 votes to overcome an objection raised by Senator Rand Paul.
The Ballroom Fight
Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon sponsored an amendment to block construction of the 90,000-square-foot White House ballroom unless Congress authorized it. Six Republicans voted with Democrats to support the proposal, including Collins, Husted, Sullivan, Murkowski, and Senators Jerry Moran of Kansas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina.
The ballroom has become a symbol of Trump’s self-indulgence, with the president boasting about it almost daily while gas prices rise and the Iran war drags on.
The Anti-Weaponization Fund Controversy
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told House lawmakers at a hearing Tuesday that the administration had abandoned plans to establish the fund. But Trump undercut Blanche’s statement Wednesday when he refused to rule out the possibility of establishing the fund at a future date.
“The weaponization fund, as far as I’m concerned, was a beautiful thing,” Trump told reporters. “I love it.”
Senate Republicans are deeply uneasy about the fund, which would pay people who say they were victims of “weaponization and lawfare” — including those who attacked the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Senator Thom Tillis had previously called the fund “stupid on stilts.” Trump responded by calling Tillis “weak and ineffective.”
The Democratic Argument
Schumer framed the debate as a battle over priorities, accusing Republicans of being out of touch with average Americans struggling to afford basic goods.
“Apparently, Republicans think we cannot afford a single penny to help Americans cover the skyrocketing cost of gasoline, of health care, of housing, of food, of energy – you name it – but somehow we can afford to give another 70 billion dollars to Trump’s rogue agencies even though ICE and Border Patrol already have a hundred billion dollars cash on hand,” Schumer said.
The Republican Defections
The Republican defections on amendments related to the anti-weaponization fund, the White House ballroom, and health care affordability signal growing GOP concern about the political headwinds heading into the midterm election.
Senate Republican Conference Chairman Tom Cotton circulated polling data to GOP colleagues earlier this week showing that independent voters are shifting toward Democrats and away from Republicans. At the same time, polls show that Trump’s job approval rating has sunk to its lowest level ever. An Economist/YouGov poll found that 61 percent of adults disapproved of his job performance.
Collins also sided with Democrats on amendments to investigate insurance companies denying medical care and to investigate the loss of Medicaid coverage. She was the only Republican to vote for both. Murkowski broke with GOP colleagues to vote for an amendment to invest $10 million to clear the backlog of DACA renewal applications.
The Bottom Line
The Senate passed a $69.5 billion immigration enforcement funding bill early Friday morning after a marathon 18-hour session. The legislation funds ICE and Border Patrol through 2029. The path to passage was complicated by fights over Trump’s proposed White House ballroom and his $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund. Several vulnerable Republicans broke with the president to vote with Democrats on amendments blocking those priorities. The bill now moves to the House, where it is expected to pass next week.
