Senate passes immigration enforcement funding after clashes over ballroom, ‘anti-weaponization’ fund

The Senate voted early Friday morning to pass a $69.5 billion budget reconciliation package to fund immigration enforcement operations through 2029, overcoming the concerns of several Republicans who were upset the bill did not include language barring the Trump administration from creating a $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund to pay MAGA allies.

The legislation passed 52-47, taking Republicans one big step closer to ensuring that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol are funded through the end of President Trump’s second term.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, was the only Republican to vote against “no”. 

She raised concerns about funding federal agencies for three years through the budget reconciliation process instead of the regular appropriations process. 

The package now moves to the House, where Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) plans to pass it next week.

Trump gave Republicans in Congress a deadline of June 1 to pass the bill but that timeline fell apart when Senate Republicans refused to vote on the legislation 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 Senate finally passed the bill Friday morning after voting on a marathon series of motions and amendments to alter it.

Those amendments would have added language to address affordability, or to block the Trump administration from building a White House ballroom and from establishing the anti-weaponization fund. None were adopted, but several saw vulnerable Republicans break with their party to vote in favor of the proposals.

The final vote caps a ferocious battle between Senate Democrats and Republicans over the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement policies that spanned months and caused a 76-day shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security earlier this year.

Democrats announced in January that they would not support any Homeland Security funding unless the Trump administration agreed to significant reforms, such as requiring federal immigration officers to obtain judicial warrants before entering private homes and banning them from wearing masks.

Democrats........

© The Hill