The Senate passed a budget resolution aimed at funding federal immigration enforcement for the next three years, the first step toward drafting the multibillion-dollar spending package that has emerged as one of Republicans’ top priorities.
But its future in the House is still unclear.
In a rare overnight voting session, the Senate adopted the resolution in a 50-48 vote shortly after 3:30 a.m. EDT with just two Republicans joining all Democrats in opposing the measure. Both Utah Sens. Mike Lee and John Curtis voted in favor of the resolution.
The resolution passed after a roughly six-hour voting session that dragged into early Thursday morning as Democrats sought to introduce a slew of amendments in order to push their Republican colleagues into uncomfortable votes on affordability issues. None of those proposals were adopted, but Democrats are sure to use them as fodder in future campaign ads in the midterm elections.
The vote is just the first step in a lengthy process to draft and approve the reconciliation bill, which Republicans want to use to fund Customs and Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement for the next 3½ years.
The resolution must now be approved by the House before the designated committees can get to work drafting the final spending package. It’s not yet clear when House GOP leaders will tee the resolution up for a vote — and Senate leaders have expressed concerns about whether the current version can make it through the lower chamber with such narrow margins.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters that House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has not guaranteed the budget resolution can pass in its current form.
“He hasn’t, although we’ve talked,” Thune said. “They know it’s coming, and you know he’s obviously got people who want to expand the scope too. But I think hopefully the White House will be engaged in trying to make sure we get the budget resolution done.”
Thune added: “It doesn’t seem like this should be that heavy of a lift, but nothing is easy these days.”
Johnson said on Thursday that he would bring up the resolution “as quickly as possible,” eyeing a vote as soon as next week. The speaker said he would push to pass the resolution as-is — which could be easier said than done as conservative Republicans in the House grumble it doesn’t go far enough to fund their priorities.
“I don’t know (if I’ll support it),” Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, said. “We got to see. I mean, it ought to be broader. We ought to be doing more.”
The budget resolution is part of a two-track process making its way through Congress to fund the Department of Homeland Security, which has been shut down for more than two months due to Democratic opposition.
The reconciliation package will solely fund CBP and ICE while lawmakers will also work toward passing a separate funding bill to fund the rest of the department through the end of September.
The second funding bill has already passed the Senate, but conservatives in the House have refused to approve it until a reconciliation package funding immigration enforcement is also approved.
“I will not vote for a bill, or support in any way, a bill that has zeros put in there for Border Patrol,” Rep. Andy Harris, chairman of the conservative Freedom Caucus, told reporters on Thursday.
The budget blueprint instructs committees to have their portions finished and submitted to the Budget Committee by May 15, two weeks ahead of President Donald Trump’s deadline of June 1.