WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. House of Representatives will vote on a $70 billion package to fund immigration enforcement agencies. The package funds Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, and will be sent to President Donald Trump upon passage.
A final vote on the immigration funding package could occur on Tuesday. House Speaker Mike Johnson will require nearly all Republican votes to advance the measure in the chamber. The funding measure requires a simple majority to pass in the House. The House Rules Committee will begin consideration of the measure on Monday afternoon.
The Senate passed the immigration funding package on a 52-47 vote. Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska was the only Republican to vote against the package. The package funds immigration enforcement agencies through the end of Trump's presidency.
The Senate previously canceled a scheduled vote on the funding package in late May. Democrats have opposed funding for the agencies since two civilians were killed by federal law enforcement in Minneapolis in January, resulting in their exclusion from an earlier spending bill.
Senator and Chair of the Senate Budget Committee Lindsey Graham said, "We were forced to use the reconciliation process because Democrats objected during the appropriations process to giving any money to Border Patrol and ICE, effectively shutting our border security down at a time of growing threats to the nation." Graham added, "In less than two years, President Trump has taken the border from the most broken to the most secure in history. The bill we passed today locks those gains in through the rest of his term."
The budget reconciliation process applies only to spending-related measures and requires 50 votes to pass in the Senate, bypassing the standard 60-vote filibuster threshold. Democratic support for the measure is expected to be minimal. Trump initially required the funding package to be delivered by June 1.
Democratic senators proposed an amendment on Thursday to prohibit Trump from creating a $1.8 billion fund, but the proposed amendment failed to pass. Three Republican senators voted with Democrats on the proposed amendment. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Republicans fought using strong language to protect Trump and his slush fund but didn't lift a finger to help working Americans lower their costs.