Conservative lawmakers are only erecting obstacles to the GOP-immigration enforcement funding plan. But party leaders are hitting the gas in hopes of dispelling any doubts soon as they race to meet the June 1 deadline set by President Donald Trump.
The endgame of the 58-day Department of Homeland Security shutdown is at stake. The Senate has passed The biggest piece of the funding puzzleAnd top GOP leaders are now starting a multistep budget reconciliation process to circumvent Democratic opposition and fund enforcement agencies for the remainder of Trump’s term.
senate majority leader john thune On Monday he said he would push an “anorexic” bill focused on Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol. Republicans hope it will help them avoid months of painful infighting — like they endured before enacting last year’s tax-cut-focused megabill.
Still, some suffering remains prevalent.
Sen rick scott (R-Fla.) pushed Monday for spending cuts to offset new enforcement funding. Sen tommy tuberville (R-Ala.) said he wants to include funding for the military and other GOP priorities. Sen john kennedy (R-La.) argued that parts of the hot-button GOP elections bill should be in the mix. And across the Capitol, the right wing of the House insisted that Republicans fund all of DHS through a party-line process — not just ICE and Border Patrol.
thun and speaker mike johnson They are expected to discuss the way forward during their private weekly meeting on Tuesday. The House is currently stalled on a bipartisan Senate-passed bill that would fund a larger portion of DHS, awaiting progress on another bill under discussion.
Even Kennedy, who said it was a “mistake” not to include parts of the Save America Act in any upcoming reconciliation measure, warned Thune against expanding its scope.
“If he starts making deals with individual senators … he’s going to be in big trouble,” he said. “I know several senators who will run into Thune and say, ‘Look, you only get my vote if you include my stuff in it.’ Well, if he starts it, I’ll get some of my stuff.
The ultimatum could begin to come as soon as the Senate GOP closed-door lunch Tuesday, when Thune and the Senate budget chairman lindsey graham (R.S.C.) will get a chance to discuss the plan with his colleagues.
The first step for Republicans will be to take up a budget proposal — a fiscal blueprint for party-line legislation, which Graham’s committee could release as soon as Tuesday. That blueprint is expected to task the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee with drafting legislation that would fund immigration enforcement agencies for the remainder of Trump’s term.
Reconciliation bills generally include at least some effort to offset new spending with other savings or revenues. But GOP leaders are poised to argue that it wouldn’t be necessary in this instance because it involves funding that would have gone through the appropriations process — had Democrats not insisted on enforcement policy restrictions after federal agents shot and killed two Minneapolis residents in January.
Thune also warned Monday that expanding the bill by directing additional committees — such as the finance panel, which deals with taxes and federal health programs — would expose Republican senators to politically difficult votes that could jeopardize the overall package. Any amendment that is relevant to the reconciliation bill and under the jurisdiction of the directed committees is eligible for a simple-majority vote – and the minority party aims to use those “votes-a-rama” to bring the majority to the spot.
“It gets really complicated procedurally, politically, and so, you know, to get this done – to get it done at any speed – you have to keep it really tight,” Thune said.
In a sign of how quickly Senate Republicans want to move, Graham is expected to skip the committee vote on the fiscal blueprint for the reconciliation bill, according to three people who asked to remain anonymous to describe private planning. While Graham indicated on Monday that he still had not made a final decision, going straight to the floor would prevent Budget Committee members, including Scott and Kennedy, from making any potential changes.
Instead, Republicans are aiming to bring the budget proposal straight to the House by next week. That would give the House time to adopt it before both chambers are set to recess in early May, though it’s possible that deadline could slip — especially if Republicans also struggle to meet the April 20 deadline to extend a major surveillance program.
To get the budget blueprint or subsequent reconciliation bill through the Senate, Thune could lose three GOP senators, with Vice President J.D. Vance breaking a potential tie.
Republicans are keeping a close eye on one of their own committee chairs, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, who will be tasked with helping write the bill. He did not say how he would handle the budget proposal on Monday, but told reporters he generally supports “spending less money, not more.”
In addition to the complaining from fiscal advocates, there are also Republican senators who are skeptical of any new reconciliation bill — appropriators in particular worried that the party-line approach is encroaching on their bipartisan turf.
But GOP leaders remain hopeful they will be able to move quickly after months of sparring with Democrats over immigration enforcement policy has left many in their ranks frustrated. Senate Appropriations Chairman susan collins (R-Maine) told reporters Monday that his panel was providing “technical assistance” to Graham’s panel, lamenting the breakdown in the appropriations process.
“It clearly would have been better if we had a bipartisan agreement to complete the remaining bill,” Collins said.
But the greater danger may lie in the House, where Republicans have an even slimmer majority and a more radical group of ultraconservative lawmakers.
One of their ringleaders, Rep. chip roy Texas Gov. Andrew Cuomo reacted negatively to Thune’s “anorexic” approach to the funding bill on Monday. He suggested funding all of DHS through a party-line reconciliation bill, not just ICE and Border Patrol.
“Well – he’s not the only voice in this, is he?” Roy wrote on X. “We must pursue other priorities with all of DHS… We are running out of time to complete and clean up these recurring swamp messes.”
