Senate Republicans buckle in for reconciliation bill funding ICE, border patrol

Senate Republican leaders have secured President Donald Trump’s endorsement for a second budget reconciliation bill that would provide funding for ICE and Border Patrol.

Senate Budget Committee Chair Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., began the process of crafting the party-line, filibuster-proof legislation Monday and are expected to have it on the chamber floor by next week. 

The legislation will not only include current annual funding for the agencies but also funding for the next three years. Because Republicans are using the reconciliation process to pass annual appropriations funding rather than new deficit spending, no offsets are currently planned.

The tactic comes after weeks of failed negotiations to reopen the Department of Homeland Security. 

Republican leaders finally determined that the only way to end the DHS shutdown without folding to Democrats’ immigration policy demands is by stripping immigration enforcement funding from the Homeland Security bill, the only remaining fiscal year 2026 appropriations bill that Congress hasn’t passed.

That hybrid Homeland Security bill already passed the Senate and only needs the House’s approval to reach the president’s desk. 

But since skeptical House Republicans are waiting for concrete progress on reconciliation before approving the legislation, the now 58-day DHS shutdown will likely last at least seven more days.

The process could drag out even further due to a boatload of other floor activities that Congress failed to complete before leaving for a two-week recess. 

A controversial surveillance tool of the National Security Agency, FISA Section 702, expires April 20 unless Congress reauthorizes it. Many Republican lawmakers are opposed to a clean extension – which House leaders have already planned – and are pushing for amendments to better protect Americans’ electronic privacy.

The Senate will also resume its marathon debate on Republicans’ SAVE America Act. The bill would require Americans to present proof of citizenship when registering to vote, necessitate in-person voter registration for federal elections, and require states to remove all noncitizens from their voter rolls.

Additionally, Democrats in both the House and Senate will respectively force votes on an Iran War Powers Resolution. Though previous votes on such resolutions failed, Democrats hope that recent escalations of the Iran conflict will persuade a handful of Republicans to support it.