Washington– The Senate took the first steps in a new effort to reopen the Department of Homeland Security early Thursday, voting to adopt a budget plan that would fund Immigration, Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol over Democratic objections and sending it to the House.
The entire department has been shut down since mid-February as have the Democrats He called for changes in policy Following the shooting death of two protesters by federal agents. Republicans are now trying to fund the two agencies through a complex, time-consuming process called budget reconciliation, a maneuver they also used to get it passed. President Donald Trump’s tax and spending cuts package Last year without any Democratic votes.
“We have a multi-step process ahead of us, but in the end Republicans will have helped ensure America’s borders are secure and prevented Democrats from defunding these important agencies,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, RD.
The budget process requires only a simple majority in the Senate, bypassing filibuster rules that require Republicans to get 60 votes on most bills when they hold only 53 seats. But it also comes with increased scrutiny from before Parliamentarian in the Senate and a long, open series of votes for amendment at the beginning and end of the process.
The Senate held the first series of votes overnight, starting Wednesday evening and continuing into early Thursday morning, as Democrats proposed amendments to cut health care spending and other costs in an attempt to contrast with Republicans’ focus on Trump’s immigration enforcement push.
“Instead of pumping hundreds of billions of dollars into ICE and Border Patrol, Republicans should work with Democrats to reduce direct costs,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
Once the House approves the framework and the Senate parliamentarians approve it, both chambers can then move to pass the measure.
The Senate has already voted on a bipartisan basis to reopen the rest of the department, but House Republican leaders say they won’t take up that bill until the Senate shows progress toward funding ICE and Border Patrol as well.
The $70 billion budget resolution would fund the two agencies for three years, until the end of Trump’s term. Thune and other GOP leaders say they hope to keep the bill narrowly focused on ICE and Border Patrol and get it to Trump’s desk by the end of the month, along with the rest of the Department of Homeland Security funding that the Senate has already passed.
But this may be difficult because many in the party see the budget bill as the last real chance this year to enact their priorities. Republicans in both the Senate and House have pushed to add other provisions, including money for farmers and Trump money. Proof of the citizenship voting billIt’s called the Save America Act.
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., briefly halted the voting series late Wednesday, frustrated that the bill would not include parts of the Save America Act or other legislation.
“This is the last train leaving the station,” Kennedy said, predicting that they would not be able to pass any other major bills before the midterm elections in November. But he withdrew his objections and allowed voting to continue.
Democrats say any bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security should put restrictions on it Federal immigration authoritiesincluding better identification for federal officers and increased use of warrants, among other demands.
After shooting federal agents Rene is good and Alex Pretty In Minneapolis in January, Trump I agreed to the Democrats’ request That the Homeland Security bill be separated from the larger spending measure that became law. But bipartisan negotiations went nowhere, and DHS funding ended without an agreement on changes to the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement tactics.
In March, the Senate passed legislation by voice vote that would separate ICE and Border Patrol and fund the rest of the department, including the Transportation Security Administration as security lines grow at some airports. But the Republicans are in The House refused to consider itSaying they will not support any bill that does not include money for immigration enforcement.
Congress then left town for a two-week recess, leaving the issue unresolved. Trump did Use executive orders To pay some departmental salaries in the meantime, but the future of those salaries is uncertain.
During the recess, Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson They announced that they would follow a two-track approach -Pass a Senate bill that includes most of the department’s funding through a regular order and use a party-line bill to pass funding for ICE and CBP.
However, weeks later, Johnson has yet to announce when the House will consider Senate legislation that will be debated by the rest of the department. It is unclear whether GOP caucus members will unite behind the narrow budget bill, as some House Republicans, such as Senator Kennedy, have argued should add other priorities to the legislation.
Johnson said this week that the sequencing of the two bills was important. He said House lawmakers don’t want to see the rest of the department funded without Immigration, Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol.
“We’ll get there,” Johnson said. “Just stay tuned.”
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Associated Press writer Kevin Freking contributed to this report.