By Therese Boudreaux | center square
(meaningful news) – Senate Republicans will begin a vote-a-rama on Wednesday evening on a budget proposal that would open a filibuster-proof path to funding ICE and Border Patrol.
The resolution includes instructions to craft a budget reconciliation bill that could include up to $140 billion in annual appropriations for ICE and CBP over the next 3.5 years.
But vote-a-rama allows senators to propose an unlimited number of amendments, and Democrats plan to make the most of it.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. told reporters Wednesday that his party’s lawmakers “will have a lot of amendments” related to cost-of-living policies and predicted a “reconciliation reckoning” for Republicans.
“Republicans are about to learn the hard way that when they refuse to reduce costs, American families lose, and they lose too,” Schumer said. “We’re going to let them make this decision, amendment after amendment, vote after vote.”
The reconciliation is a last-ditch effort by Republicans to conclude the fiscal year 2026 appropriations process and reopen the Department of Homeland Security, which has now been partially shuttered for 68 days.
Senate Democrats had refused to provide the votes needed to pass the Homeland Security appropriations bill unless Republicans included some immigration enforcement reforms.
Although Republicans ultimately agreed to many of the reforms requested, such as requiring ICE agents to display IDs and wear body cameras, they refused to impose additional warrant requirements and require local people’s consent before conducting migrant removal operations.
The negotiations ultimately failed completely and the Senate passed the Homeland Security bill, stripping ICE and CBP funding entirely.
The House needs to approve a hybrid bill before DHS can reopen, but skeptical House Republicans are waiting for separate ICE and CBP funding to advance in the Senate through reconciliation before agreeing to an unconventional funding strategy.
Democrats and deficit watchdogs alike have condemned this unorthodox use of the budget reconciliation process, with Schumer claiming that Republicans are “helping destroy” the regular-order government funding process.
Schumer did not comment on whether Democrats intend to use the same tactics against Republicans if the balance of power shifts. However, Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chairwoman Patty Murray, D-Wash., said Republicans were “setting a precedent for the future, and it’s going to be extremely difficult in the future for whoever comes into the minority.”
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