Federal immigration officers were at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on March 23, 2026, to assist maintain airport security during the Department of Homeland Security shutdown. (Photo by Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder)
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Republicans approved a budget resolution early Thursday that would fast-track billions toward immigration enforcement, sending the bill to the House of Representatives, where GOP lawmakers in that chamber must pass it to unlock the reconciliation process.
The 50-48 votes after a marathon amendment vote that Democrats used to highlight political differences on cost of living issues and withhold federal emergency aid dollars from states.
Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul are the two Republicans who voted against approving the measure. Sense. Charles Grassley of Iowa and Mark Warner of Virginia did not vote.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said just before votes on the framework began that Democrats would put Republicans on the record on the matter rising costs of living and the Trump administration suppression of immigration.
“America will see even more clearly tonight where the Republicans stand – not on the side of cutting costs, but on the side of masked agents occupying our streets,” he said.
Republicans plan to take advantage complicated budget reconciliation processwhich avoids the need for support from Democrats in the Senate to provide $70 billion to $140 billion in additional funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol.
The money is intended to cover the costs of these agencies for the next three years, avoiding the need for Republicans to negotiate restrictions on immigration activities with Democrats, who have for years calling for the railing since federal agents shot and killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis in January.
Combined with Senate-passed legislation that funds the expansive majority of the Department of Homeland Security for the current fiscal year, these two pieces of legislation are expected to end the department’s ongoing shutdown that began in mid-February.
One amendment was adopted, 15 were rejected
Ultimately, senators discussed 16 amendments, 12 proposed by Democrats and four proposed by Republicans. The only one passed came from Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, whom senators approved by a 98-0 majority. vote.
The proposal would create a reserve fund to escalate the ability of federal immigration agents to detain and deport adults who entered the country without proper documentation and were later convicted of rape, murder or sexual abuse of a minor.
“Everyone in this body should be in favor of this,” Graham said. “These people need to be caught, jailed or kicked out of our country.”
Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin said he supports the amendment because “under current law, undocumented immigrants convicted of rape, murder or sexual abuse of a minor are subject to mandatory detention and deportation.”
“We oppose what is happening on the streets of Minneapolis and Chicago,” he added.
SAVE America Act sidelined
Louisiana Republican Sen. John Kennedy tried and ultimately failed to convince his colleagues to add a modern set of instructions to the budget resolution that would allow the Committee on Rules and Administration to write a voter ID bill.
Kennedy said he wanted the bill to include three provisions.
“It would require that in federal elections you must be an American citizen eligible to vote, and provide provisions to enforce that. Second, it would require that in federal elections you must prove that you are who you say you are in order to vote, and it would provide provisions to enforce that,” he said. “Third, it instructs the Rules Committee that we will return to Election Day, not Election Month, and instructs the Rules Committee to provide legislation to enforce this.”
California Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla, a ranking member of the rules panel, opposed the amendment during the debate, saying he couldn’t believe lawmakers had once again experienced a “partisan attempt to rush through what I call a solution in search of a problem.”
“Despite the president’s claims, there is no evidence of mass voter fraud across the country, which is the premise of these proposals,” he said. “So it’s not just a solution in search of a problem, to paraphrase a wise man, but this remedy is just foam and there is no beer.”
Padilla added that a provision in the Kennedy Amendment would require states to count votes within 36 hours of the election, and the modern mandate, he said, could cause stern problems in larger states with millions of voters.
“It is unfortunate that election administration has been turned into a partisan issue,” he said. “In fact, I’m asking our colleagues to protect early voters, not just in my state, but in yours. Protect the ability to vote by mail, not just in my state, but in yours. Let’s protect women who are married and change their name and their right to vote, not just in my state, but in yours.”
Senators refused to waive the order-of-order motion against the Kennedy amendment by a 48-50 majority. vote. Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Murkowski and Thom Tillis of North Carolina voted with Democrats.
Ban on funding Planned Parenthood through Medicaid
Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley tried unsuccessfully to create a path to extending the one-year ban on Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood, which the GOP included in its “big, beautiful” bill. The funding ban expires on July 4.
Hawley did not comment on abortion access during the debate, but he focused his criticism of the organization on gender-affirming health care services for transgender youth.
“Under no circumstances should Medicaid money intended for the poor and needy be used for transgender surgeries and treatment for minor children,” he said. “It is a moral outrage. This body has an obligation to oppose it.”
Planned parenthood website says the organization provides referrals for surgery, as well as hormone therapy, puberty blockers and “transition support.”
Oregon Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden argued that the amendment represented “the latest attempt by Republicans to deprive women of the health care they need and rely on so they can score some political points.”
Senators did not agree to waive the Rules of Procedure motion regarding the amendment, which would have allowed it to continue, through vote from 50-48. Collins and Murkowski voted with Democrats.
Private equity and home ownership
Senators rejected an amendment by Oregon Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley that would have addressed rising housing costs after he cited President Donald Trump’s remarks during his State of the Union address.
“We have an opportunity today to send a message that we agree with the president and that we have a challenge when it comes to homeownership because homeownership is dying out,” Merkley said. “One of the factors is the purchase of houses by private capital.”
Ohio Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno spoke out against the amendment, saying lawmakers had already addressed it in a bipartisan manner.
“I certainly urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment because we have already passed it,” he said. We have already solved this problem. Actually, congratulations to all of us. 89 to 10. We banned institutional ownership of single-family houses. I think it’s fantastic.”
According to him, in March, the Senate voted in favor of adopting a bill aimed at increasing the supply of housing in the country reporting from NPR. But because the House approved its own bill, both chambers will have to iron out the differences before any housing bill becomes law.
Senators failed to accept Merkley’s amendment along party lines 46-52 vote.
Disaster relief funds from FEMA
California Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff proposed an amendment that would address the blockage of funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which he said “has more than $3 billion in disaster relief funds in California.”
“But as we debate the budget resolution, I know that our state of California is not alone,” he said. “North Carolina is waiting for multimillion-dollar aid earmarked for Hurricane Helene in 2024. Just weeks after the Los Angeles County fire, Kentucky experienced landslides and flooding. Florida and the Gulf Coast were also devastated. Texas communities besieged by last year’s floods still haven’t seen the federal aid their communities need and deserve.”
Oklahoma Republican Sen. James Lankford opposed the amendment, saying that while he agrees that FEMA funds must go to communities, the best way to achieve that is for the House to pass the Department of Homeland Security’s annual funding bill, which has already been approved by the Senate.
The leaders of the Republican Party in the House of Representatives are I’m sticking with this bill instead of laying it on the floor while waiting for the reconciliation process to be completed. The Senate-passed DHS bill funds FEMA and all agencies that make up the department except ICE and the Border Patrol.
“Our challenge has been that for the last two months the government has suspended DHS operations,” Lankford said. “We have to be able to release these funds. That means we have to completely provide DHS funding for all of DHS. We have FEMA employees who are paid, but they don’t have program dollars to actually release.”
The Senate rejected the amendment by a vote of 49 to 49 vote. Collins, Florida Sen. Ashley Moody and Murkowski voted with Democrats.
