Senate GOP takes first step toward unlocking budget reconciliation to fund ICE, Border Patrol
Senate Republicans have officially launched the opening move to unlock budget reconciliation, a powerful legislative tool intended to provide direct funding for ICE and Border Patrol. By utilizing this process, the GOP seeks to streamline financial support for border enforcement and personnel, marking a pivotal moment in the current session's fiscal strategy.
GOP Sens. Murkowski, Paul vote with Democrats against budget reconciliation resolution
Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Rand Paul, R-Ky., broke with fellow Republicans again early Thursday, voting against a Senate budget reconciliation resolution that could help pave the way to ending the two-month shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security.
The measure still passed 50-48, despite opposition from the two GOP senators, both of which have been the object of President Donald Trump's ire for not backing the Republican agenda in the Senate.
Murkowski, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, objected to the resolution because it would set up a budget reconciliation package to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol for 3 1/2 years, effectively moving the agencies outside the annual appropriations process.
She supports funding both agencies, but opposed sidestepping Congress’ yearly funding and oversight role.
Paul voted no after arguing Senate Republicans should not approve another $70 billion for ICE and Border Patrol while the agencies still have more than $100 billion in unobligated funding from last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
“Congress ought to fund border security but we should be good stewards of the taxpayer dollars and fully pay for the $70 billion to secure our borders,” Paul said on the Senate floor.
Paul offered an amendment to offset the new spending by cutting $5 billion from refugee welfare programs, $4 billion from the National Science Foundation and 16% from the Department of Education. The amendment failed.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he hopes the House will adopt the budget resolution without changes, warning that any revisions would force the measure back to the Senate and slow work on the broader reconciliation package.
Chuck Schumer, Senate Democrats tried to gum up the works with politically charged amendments
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., tried gum up Senate Republicans with amendments in the early morning vote-a-rama.
"This reconciliation, or this budget act, will show who’s on whose side, and clearly if Republicans vote against our amendments, they’re not on the side of the American people,” Schumer said on the Senate floor Thursday morning.
Democrats used Thursday’s budget debate to force a series of politically charged votes.
Republicans, however, move forward in a broader effort to lock in border security funding without needing Democrat support.
“We have a multistep process ahead of us but at the end Republicans will have helped ensure that America’s borders are secure and prevented Democrats from defunding these important agencies,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said on the floor.
GOP senators aim to move a package next month to fund ICE and Border Patrol through 2029, with a projected cost of roughly $70 billion to $80 billion. Before that can happen, however, the House must pass its own budget resolution and lawmakers in both chambers must reconcile any differences.
Under the Senate budget resolution unveiled by Budget Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, the Homeland Security and Judiciary committees would be directed to draft legislation to fund the agencies for three and a half years. While the resolution allows up to $140 billion in deficit impact on paper, Republican aides say the final package is expected to come in at about half that amount, and Thune is urging senators to keep it tightly focused to speed it through Congress.
4 GOP Sens reject Sen. John Kennedy amendment to add SAVE America Act to reconciliation
Four Senate Republicans broke with their party to help block an amendment from Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., that sought to fold major pieces of the SAVE America Act into the overnight budget reconciliation vote.
They are a who's who of Senate GOP detractors of President Donald Trump.
Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Thom Tillis, R-N.C. and Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., voted against Kennedy’s proposal, which called on the Senate Rules Committee to draft legislation requiring proof of identity for voters, limiting voting to U.S. citizens in federal elections and ending early voting.
The motion to waive budget rules and attach the amendment failed 48-50, with all Democrats present voting no.
Kennedy has long argued the Senate should try to advance the measure through reconciliation, even though some Republicans, including the bills primary sponsor Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, warning the proposal may not survive the Byrd Rule, which limits policy provisions in budget bills.
“They may be right,” Kennedy said on the floor. “But you know what else? They can’t predict the future. They’re not clairvoyant.”
Democrats blasted the broader SAVE America Act, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer calling it a threat to democracy. The failed vote came as the Senate shifted away from weeks of debate on the elections bill and moved to pass a budget resolution aimed at setting up a separate reconciliation package to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol through 2029.
Senate Republicans pushed their immigration funding plan forward early Thursday, adopting a budget blueprint after an all-night vote series that sets up billions for ICE and Border Patrol while sidelining Democrats.
Senate Republicans adopted their budget resolution, which tees up funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol, and effectively cuts congressional Democrats out of the process entirely.
It’s the first major step toward unlocking the budget reconciliation process, which Republicans are diving into once again after Democrats refused to fund ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) without stringent reforms.
Despite Republicans largely being on the same page on the approach, Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, voted against the budget blueprint.
This is an excerpt from Fox News' Alex Miller's report. Get the full story here.
Live Coverage begins here