Senate Republicans on Friday approved a nearly $70 billion budget reconciliation package to keep immigration enforcement running through the end of President Donald Trumps second term, despite resistance from a small bloc of moderates and Democrats intent on constraining his agenda.
According to the Gateway Pundit, the measure, totaling $69.5 billion, advanced after days of procedural wrangling and internal GOP debate over how far to go in limiting the Presidents authority to confront what conservatives view as the Biden-era weaponization of government. The legislation ultimately passed the Senate 5247, with Alaskas Lisa Murkowski standing out as the lone Republican no vote, underscoring once again her alignment with the partys liberal wing.
The package secures long-term funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), a core priority for conservatives who have demanded robust border enforcement after years of lax Democratic policies. That funding, however, only came after the Trump administration agreed to scrap a proposed $1.776 billion weaponization fund, a concession that angered many on the right who see such tools as essential to countering left-wing lawfare.
The Hill noted that The Senate voted early Friday morning to pass a $69.5 billion budget reconciliation package to fund immigration enforcement operations through 2029, overcoming the concerns of several Republicans who were upset the bill did not include language barring the Trump administration from creating a $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund to pay MAGA allies. The same report added, The legislation passed 52-47, taking Republicans one big step closer to ensuring that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol are funded through the end of President Trumps second term.
President Trump had urged Republicans to move the bill by June 1, but establishment lawmakers stalled, effectively holding immigration agents funding hostage in an effort to box in his broader agenda. The Senate only moved to send the bill to the House on Friday morning, where it is expected to clear next week despite lingering unease among some GOP members.
Critics within the party reportedly fretted that the bill does not explicitly bar the President from later restoring an anti-weaponization fund to compensate victims of Biden-era lawfare, leaving open a path for future action. At the same time, the legislation pointedly withholds money for Trumps planned military installations and for enhanced security in the White House Ballroom, signaling ongoing resistance to his efforts to reshape federal priorities.
Democrats and a handful of Republicans also tried, and failed, to stop the construction of Trumps White House Ballroom outright. Six RepublicansSusan Collins of Maine, Jon Husted of Ohio, Jerry Moran of Kansas, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Dan Sullivan of Alaska, and Thom Tillis of North Carolinajoined Democrat Jeff Merkley of Oregon in backing an amendment to require separate Congressional approval for the project, but the proposal was defeated.
The Senate finally passed the bill Friday morning after voting on a marathon series of motions and amendments to alter it over the course of more than 18 hours, The Hill reported, describing efforts to tack on provisions about affordability and to block both the ballroom and any anti-weaponization fund. Those amendments would have added language to address affordability, or to block the Trump administration from building a White House ballroom and establishing the anti-weaponization fund. Several amendments saw vulnerable Republicans break with their party to vote in favor of the proposals.
For conservatives, the final product represents a mixed but significant victory: ICE and Border Patrol will be funded through 2029, securing the border mission that voters demanded, even as the permanent bureaucracy and a handful of Republican defectors continue trying to limit President Trumps ability to push back against politicized prosecutions and to reshape the executive branch on his own terms.
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