Senate Republicans pass $70 billion immigration enforcement bill

Senate Republicans pushed through nearly $70 billion in immigration enforcement funding early Friday after an 18-hour overnight voting session that exposed internal party disputes over a proposed $1.8 billion fund tied to claims of political targeting by the government.

The bill would provide money for the Department of Homeland Security’s immigration enforcement agencies, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol, through the remainder of President Donald Trump’s time in the White House. The package now goes to the House of Representatives, where a vote could come as early as next week.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska was the only Republican to vote against the measure.

Republicans used the reconciliation process to move the bill around the Senate’s usual 60-vote threshold after Democrats refused to support the package. The immigration money had been carved out of an earlier funding deal that reopened the rest of the Department of Homeland Security after a 76-day shutdown, the longest agency shutdown in U.S. government history.

The longest and most contentious fight centered on what opponents called an “anti-weaponization fund,” a proposed $1.8 billion pool of taxpayer money for people who allege they were politically targeted by the government. NPR reported that the fund originated as part of an out-of-court settlement meant to resolve a $10 billion lawsuit Trump brought against his own government over the 2019 leak of his tax records. Critics said it could benefit Trump allies, including people involved in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

“We have a lot of members who are concerned, obviously,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters last month.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., wrote on X that Americans are “concerned about paying their mortgage or rent, affording groceries and paying for gas, not about putting together a $1.8 billion fund for the President and his allies to pay whomever they wish with no legal precedent or accountability.” Cassidy recently lost his reelection race to a Trump-backed primary challenger.

Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, told House lawmakers Tuesday that the administration was dropping plans for the fund. Trump added uncertainty a day later when asked about it in the Oval Office. “I’d have to ask the lawyers,” he said. “I don’t know.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer sought to send the bill back to the Senate Judiciary Committee to kill the fund. The Guardian reported the amendment failed 49-50 after three Republicans — Susan Collins of Maine, Dan Sullivan of Alaska and Jon Husted of Ohio — joined Democrats in support. Eight Republican senators also backed an amendment that would prevent payouts from the fund to Jan. 6 insurrectionists.

“Tonight, Senate Republicans passed a rotten bill that makes their priorities painfully clear: more money for Donald Trump, more power for Donald Trump, and nothing to lower costs for working families,” Schumer said in a statement on X.

Republicans defended the bill as necessary to fund immigration enforcement. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., wrote on X that he was “very proud of my Republican colleagues for sticking together and making sure that Border Patrol and ICE are fully funded.” Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., said Democrats had kept DHS “in limbo” for 76 days and accused them of preferring to “defund law enforcement.”

Democrats said they wanted negotiations over immigration enforcement practices, including restrictions on face coverings and a body camera mandate, after federal agents killed two American citizens in Minnesota earlier this year. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., wrote that she “voted until 5 a.m. today to block Trump’s $1.8 billion slush fund,” adding, “Your tax dollars should not be going to Jan. 6th rioters who went after officers.”