Just before 5 a.m. on Friday, after a grinding 19-hour vote-a-rama, the United States Senate passed a $70 billion immigration enforcement funding package by a vote of 52 to 47. The money funds Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection through 2029, locking Trump's deportation machinery in place for the remainder of his term regardless of any future government shutdown fight. Packed inside the same bill: a $1.776 billion settlement fund that critics across both parties say is a taxpayer-funded reward system for the president's political allies.
What $70 Billion Buys
The funding breakdown tells the story. The reconciliation package delivers $38.6 billion to ICE, $26 billion to CBP, and another $5 billion in discretionary money the Department of Homeland Security can deploy for immigration enforcement as it sees fit. Three years of funding, fully insulated from the annual appropriations fights that have repeatedly stalled immigration policy in both directions.
For a deportation operation already running at record pace, this is the financial foundation that makes it permanent rather than provisional. Senate Republicans structured the package through budget reconciliation specifically to bypass the 60-vote filibuster threshold, meaning no Democratic vote was required and none was received.
The Fund Inside the Bill
The bill's most contentious passenger is the $1.776 billion "anti-weaponization fund", originally established through a settlement of Trump's $10 billion civil lawsuit against the IRS over the 2019 leak of his tax returns. The fund is designed to pay out individuals who claim the federal government was "weaponized" against them. That category, critics note, could include participants in the January 6 attack on the Capitol who allege unfair prosecution.
During the vote-a-rama, Senate Democrats pushed multiple amendments to eliminate or cap the fund. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer offered an amendment to codify Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche's public promise that the DOJ would not move forward with the fund. That vote failed 49 to 50. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), a retiring Republican, offered a competing amendment to redirect the money toward "fraud enforcement" at the DOJ. Democrats rejected that framing, arguing any form of the fund remained politicized. That effort also failed, though 11 Republicans joined Tillis in supporting it.
The IRS settlement attached to the fund also, separately, "forever barred" the IRS from auditing past tax returns of Trump, his family members, or their companies.
One Republican Voted No
Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska was the sole Republican to vote against the final bill, joining all 47 Democrats in opposition. Two other Republicans, Jon Husted of Ohio and Dan Sullivan of Alaska, both facing reelection this year, voted in favor of a Democratic motion to ban the settlement fund but ultimately voted for the overall package.
The internal GOP rebellion over the anti-weaponization fund had threatened to sink the bill for weeks. Senate Republicans ultimately held together on the final vote, delivering Trump a significant legislative win and sending the package to the House.
What Comes Next
Speaker Mike Johnson has indicated the House will take up the package as early as next week. If it passes, the $70 billion goes to DHS immediately, the anti-weaponization fund survives with no legislative restrictions, and ICE and Border Patrol are financed through the final day of Trump's current term.
"Senators voted 52-47 for the $70 billion legislation to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol for the next three years, through the end of Trump's term." — NPR
The bill arrived at the Senate after weeks of delays caused by the anti-weaponization fund controversy. Republican leadership eventually accepted the risk of keeping the fund in the bill rather than lose the immigration enforcement money, calculating that the deportation funding mattered more to their members than the optics of a taxpayer-financed relief program for political grievants. With the Senate vote done, that calculation now moves to the House, where leadership faces the same tradeoff on a tighter floor.
Sources
- NPR: Senate Passes $70B Immigration Enforcement Bill Without Limits on Trump Settlement Fund
- CNBC: U.S. Senate Passes $70 Billion ICE Funding, Fails to Ban Trump's Anti-Weaponization Fund
- CNN: Senate Passes $70 Billion ICE and Border Patrol Bill, Overcoming Internal GOP Rebellion
- The Hill: Senate Approves Immigration Enforcement Funding for ICE and Border Patrol Until 2029
- ABC News: Senate Approves $70 Billion Immigration Enforcement Bill
- NBC News: Senate Passes $70B Bill to Fund Immigration Enforcement, Without Limits on Trump Anti-Weaponization Fund
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