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Senate Republicans late Wednesday night passed a $70 billion plan to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol through the end of President Donald Trump’s second term. The effort, if it passes muster in the House, could finally bring an end to the longest partial government shutdown in American history.
The GOP Plan to End the Shutdown
With a 50-48 vote, Senate Republicans took the first step toward funding immigration enforcement through reconciliation, a process that only required the support of a simple majority and circumvents the filibuster, which requires 60 votes on most legislation.
The measure gives the Homeland Security and Senate Judiciary committees the authority to write legislation to boost spending for immigration enforcement agencies such as ICE and CBP.
“[The Democrats’] decision to block funding puts our nation at risk at a time of great threat,” Graham wrote on X. Getting the resolution to the House “would clear the way for committees to craft language that secures our border and keeps immigration enforcement on track, something Democrats refuse to do,” Graham continued.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said prior to the final vote that funding through reconciliation was not his “preference,” but as the nearly 70-day shutdown drags on, the GOP is running out of options. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, called the tactic a “partisan sideshow” that would fund DHS immigration enforcement "without putting any restraints on these rogue agencies' rampant violence in our streets."
Democrat Demands
Earlier this year, Democrats demanded Republicans agree to a list of ten reforms related to immigration enforcement, including prohibiting ICE and other federal agents from wearing masks, banning enforcement near “sensitive locations” (medical facilities, churches, schools, polling places, etc.), and ending racial profiling. Republicans attempted to compromise, but Democrats refused to budge, successfully blocking the GOP from funding the Department of Homeland Security for roughly nine weeks.
Democrats could not block a united Senate GOP from funding the DHS through reconciliation, leading many on the left to criticize the move as unfair. But as usual, Democrats aren’t afraid to use reconciliation themselves when they are the party in power. As Liberty Nation News previously reported, “In March of 2021, Democrats under President Joe Biden used the reconciliation process to pass the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act without a single Republican vote. Then again, Democrats used the process to pass the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022, including approximately $369 billion focused on climate change investments.”
The budget measure will now pass to the House, and presuming it passes, committees in both upper and lower chambers can begin crafting the actual funding legislation. At that point we can expect another vote-a-rama for amendments, but if the GOP caucus remains united, the partial government shutdown may finally be coming to an end.
