WASHINGTON — The Senate passed legislation early Friday to fund President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement agencies, after intense bipartisan backlash over a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund threatened to derail the bill.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.Republicans managed to push through the $70 billion legislation on a 52-47 vote after weeks of delays, funding Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol through the end of Trump’s term.Sen.Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, was the only Republican to vote against the final package, which was also opposed by all Democrats.
Sen.Michael Bennet, D-Colo., missed the vote.
The bill includes $38.6 billion for ICE, $22.6 billion for the Border Patrol, $5 billion for the Department of Homeland Security and $108.5 million for child exploitation investigations.It does not include security funding for the White House ballroom, or any guardrails on the creation of a pot of money seen by Democrats and some Republicans as a “slush fund” to funnel taxpayer money to pay Jan.
6 rioters and other Trump allies.The final vote, shortly before 5 a.m.ET, followed an 18-hour “vote-a-rama” during which senators could offer amendments.
Senators from both parties proposed 29 amendments and motions before voting on final passage, with some Republicans supporting amendments that broke with Trump’s priorities.Republicans ultimately defeated multiple attempts by senators on both sides of the aisle to codify ending or changing the “anti-weaponization” fund.Eight Republicans voted in favor of an amendment that would prohibit payments from the fund to Jan.
6 rioters convicted of assaulting law enforcement officers, but the amendment failed to get the 60 votes needed to pass.The bill now goes to the House, which will need to pass it before it’s sent to Trump’s desk for his signature.
The House announced Thursday that it would no ...