After a marathon 18-hour vote, Senate Republicans advanced roughly $70 billion in funding for immigration enforcement agencies that had been carved out of an earlier funding deal to reopen the rest of the Department of Homeland Security.The funds would extend through the remainder of President Trump's time in the White House.One Republican, Sen.
Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, voted against it.The package now heads for a vote in the House of Representatives, which could happen as early as next week.While the Senate passage is a victory for Republicans, who have been trying to pass immigration enforcement for months, the overnight vote-a-rama exposed rifts within their ranks.At the center of it all is the Trump administration's proposed $1.8 billion fund to distribute taxpayer dollars to people who allege they have been politically targeted by the government, perhaps including Jan.6 insurrectionists.The fund originated as part of an out-of-court settlement to resolve a $10 billion lawsuit brought by President Trump against his own government over the 2019 leak of his tax records.
It has been unpopular among congressional lawmakers, including Republicans — many of whom were present at the Capitol when it was attacked in 2021."We have a lot of members who are concerned, obviously," Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters last month."People are concerned about paying their mortgage or rent, affording groceries and paying for gas, not about putting together a $1.8 billion fund for the President and his allies to pay whomever they wish with no legal precedent or accountability," Sen.Bill Cassidy, R-La., wrote on X.
Cassidy recently lost his reelection race to a Trump-backed primary challenger.Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, sought to ease such concerns during testimony in the House on Tuesday, telling lawmakers the administration was dropping plans for the fund.But President Trump introduced new uncertainty on Wednesday, telling reporters in t...