Washington — On Tuesday, the House approved a Republican-backed $70 billion package designed to fund immigration enforcement agencies throughout the remainder of President Trump’s term, thus concluding a prolonged impasse over Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol budgets.
The House narrowly passed the bill with a 214 to 212 vote, following the Senate’s earlier approval on Friday after overcoming several obstacles. The bill is now set to be signed by Mr. Trump.
“We’ve secured three full years of funding,” commented House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, following the vote. “By granting this funding for three years, we’ve eliminated [Democrats’] ability to reduce, block, or leverage it against the Trump administration for the remainder of his term.”
House Republicans had been anticipating the Senate’s transmission of the bill for weeks. Both chambers aimed to have the legislation on Mr. Trump’s desk by Memorial Day to meet his June 1 deadline. However, progress was stalled due to the president’s request for $1 billion to construct a grand ballroom at the White House and the announcement of a nearly $1.8 billion Justice Department fund intended for individuals claiming political persecution.
Opposition from within the GOP regarding the president’s agenda led Senate Republicans to postpone votes until after their Memorial Day recess.
Ultimately, the provision for ballroom security funding was removed from the bill, and the Justice Department decided not to pursue the “anti-weaponization fund.” Despite the administration’s assurances, skepticism persisted, and several proposed amendments to officially prevent such payouts were rejected during an extended voting session in the Senate that continued from Thursday morning into early Friday.
House GOP leaders had initially expected to hold a vote late last week on passage, but delayed taking up the measure until this week. And Tuesday’s votes on the measure were not without drama. A 5-minute procedural vote earlier in the day had to be held open for about 30 minutes as GOP leaders worked to get members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus to vote in favor of advancing the measure.
On final passage, GOP Rep. Tim Walberg of Michigan initially voted in opposition, tying the vote. GOP leaders quickly closed the vote as soon as he flipped.
One member who caucuses with Republicans, California independent Rep. Kevin Kiley, voted against the bill. Kiley had “very strong concerns” about the “strictly party-line process” and wanted to see “significant bipartisan reforms to interior immigration enforcement.” Still, Kiley helped advance the measure during the party-line procedural vote earlier in the day.
Republicans used the budget reconciliation process to fund immigration-related agencies. The process allows them to pass some fiscal legislation by a simple majority in the Senate, bypassing the need for any Democratic votes to overcome the 60-vote filibuster threshold. Democrats have refused to fund ICE and Border Patrol without reforms.
