Senate Republicans are moving to fast-track a gop dhs funding plan that would pour money into immigration enforcement without a single Democratic vote, as a partial Department of Homeland Security shutdown drags into its second month. The push is built around budget reconciliation, a process Republicans are using to front-load funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection for the remainder of President Donald Trump’s presidency.
Trump said on Truth Social after meeting Friday with Sens. John Barrasso and Lindsey Graham that reconciliation was “ON TRACK,” and that Republicans were moving “FAST and FOCUSED.” He said the bill should be finished no later than June 1 and on his desk. Graham echoed that message, saying the “reconciliation train is on the tracks” and that a specific bill would come out before June 1 to fund the border patrol and ICE for the entire presidency, the three years left of Trump’s term.
The Senate is scheduled to return to Washington on Monday, but the first formal move in reconciliation will happen in the House. Republicans are coalescing around the strategy because Democrats are blocking funding for ICE and CBP, leaving the shutdown unresolved as the Department of Homeland Security enters its second month without a full funding deal.
That strategy still faces a procedural test. Several other items, including the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility America Act, could slow the package down or be stripped out by reconciliation rules. Republicans are betting the process lets them sidestep Democratic resistance and force through the enforcement money they want before the calendar reaches June 1. The question now is whether they can keep their party unified long enough to do it.