Early on June 5, 2026, the United States Senate passed a $70 billion immigration enforcement package. Majority Leader John Thune, speaking on March 3, 2026, said GOP leaders were forced to draft the package after Democrats “walked away” from negotiations that could have imposed restrictions on federal immigration agents. (Photo: Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Senate approved a nearly $70 billion package on Friday, bringing Republicans one step closer to funding immigration and deportation efforts for the next three years without negotiating with Democrats on novel restrictions on federal agents.
The 52-47 largely along party lines, the bill heads to the House of Representatives, where GOP lawmakers could send it to President Donald Trump for his signature as early as next week.
Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski was the only Republican to vote no. Colorado Democratic Senator Michael Bennet, who participated in debate in his bid to become the next governor of his state, he did not vote.
Murkowski said in a statement that she opposes the legislation because it bypasses the annual government funding process that forces both political parties to debate issues and find compromises.
“By opting for adequate funding for three financial years instead of one, this measure weakens the normal budgeting process and sets another precedent for avoiding it in the event of no agreement,” she said. “In doing so, it limits Congress’s ability to apply reasonable controls on immigration policy throughout the remainder of this administration and the next.”
Murkowski added that she would have voted for the package if it “provided immigration funding for one year, included clear limits on what those funds could be used for, and eliminated any ability to allocate taxpayer dollars to the administration’s brash fund.”
Majority Leader John Thune said during floor debate that GOP leaders were forced to draft the package after Democrats “walked away” from negotiations that could have imposed restrictions on federal immigration agents.
“Republicans will continue to provide these agencies with the funding they need to fulfill their national security responsibilities,” the South Dakota Republican said.
Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., argued that the measure shows Republicans are more focused on funding deportations than on lowering the cost of living.
“Apparently Republicans believe we cannot afford to spend a penny to help Americans cover the skyrocketing costs of gasoline, health care, housing, food, energy and so on,” he said. “But somehow we can afford to give another $70 billion to Trump’s crooked agencies.”
The Senate approval came after a marathon vote on the amendments that lasted through Thursday and into the night as Democrats tried to challenge Republican senators on policy differences months before the November midterm elections. No fixes have been approved.
Relying on the “great, beautiful” law
The bill would provide a second sizable infusion of cash to agencies tasked with handling the president’s immigration problems, building on Republicans’ $170 billion commitment attached in their “great, beautiful” law.
This legislation would be appropriate:
- $38.53 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement
- $26.02 billion for Customs and Border Protection
- $5 billion for the secretary of homeland security.
The money will be available until September 30, 2029, i.e. until the end of the tax year. Republicans decided not to put any novel barriers in front of immigration agents.
The measure approved by Republican senators differed slightly from the original version released in early May, which included $1 billion for the Secret Service to make security improvements to the president’s ballroom, known as Modernization project of the eastern wing.
Republicans also removed $1.46 billion that would have increased funding for several Justice Department programs.
Additionally, GOP lawmakers increased ICE funding by $350 million over the earlier version of the bill.
Republican leaders are implementing the package sophisticated budget reconciliation processwhich would avoid having to secure Senate Democratic votes that would otherwise be required to end debate on the measure.
Republican Party leaders decided to utilize a special legislative maneuver after failing to negotiate an agreement with Democrats to impose restrictions on immigration officials.
– said Democratic MPs novel barriersincluding body cameras and a mask ban, were necessary after federal agents shot and killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis in January.
The impasse led to 76-day break at the Department of Homeland Security, which only ended in behind schedule April when Congress approved a one-year spending bill without funding for ICE and the Border Patrol.
The deadline of June 1 has passed
The reconciliation process includes several strict rules that require each section of the legislation to address income, expenses or the debt limit. The proposals also cannot be considered “merely incidental” to the federal budget.
Trump wanted Congress to approve the funding package before his self-imposed June 1 deadline. But work on the measure stopped after the administration announced plans to create a $1.776 billion fund to pay people who believe they were wrongly prosecuted by the Justice Department.
Floor debate on the bill resumed this week after acting Attorney General Todd Blanche he testified before a House subcommittee on Tuesday, the administration “was not moving forward with the fund, period.”
But on Wednesday, Trump muddied things up a bit when, during an Oval Office event, he was asked whether the fund was “dead or on hold.”
“I’d have to ask my lawyers. I don’t know,” he said. “Are you talking about the arms fund? The arms fund, in my opinion, was a beautiful thing.”
Difficult vote on amendments
The Justice Department’s “anti-gun” position was one of many issues senators wanted to address during a marathon vote that he started on Thursday morning and continued until just before sunrise on Friday.
Several Republicans, including those facing tough re-election bids, sided with Democrats on the proposal and proposed their own changes, though none were added.
South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham tried unsuccessfully to add language that would have required people registering to vote to show proof of U.S. citizenship and then provide a photo ID in order to cast a ballot.
Senators voted 48-50 dismiss Graham’s attempt to add the SAVE America Act by showing that the legislation does not have the votes necessary to clear Congress, despite pressure from the president.
Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Murkowski and Thom Tillis of North Carolina voted with Democrats.
A majority of senators supported an effort by Delaware’s Chris Coons that would prevent the Justice Department from paying people convicted of assaulting police on Jan. 6, 2021, when Trump supporters attacked the Capitol.
The 54-45 voteshowever, it was not enough to add the recipe to the package. To overcome the procedural hurdle of not including language in the immigration bill, she needed the support of at least 60 senators. Republican Sens. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Collins, Jon Husted of Ohio, Ashley Moody of Florida, Jerry Moran of Kansas, Murkowski, Dan Sullivan of Alaska and Tillis voted with Democrats.
An amendment by Cassidy to compensate “law enforcement officers who defended the United States Capitol” on January 6 was unable to reach the needed 60 votes in the wake of 52-47 votes. Cassidy, as well as Collins, Husted, Murkowski, Sullivan and Tillis, voted with Democrats.
Oregon Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley proposed an amendment that would have required congressional approval before construction of the White House ballroom could proceed, but it was not adopted on a vote 53-46 votes.
Cassidy, Collins, Husted, Moran, Murkowski, Sullivan and Tillis voted with Democrats, but at least 60 votes were needed to overcome the opposition.
Health insurance
Georgia Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff tried to utilize a maneuver that would have sent the bill back to the Judiciary Committee to create a “task force to investigate insurance companies that have been found to routinely deny and delay patients’ access to medically necessary care.”
Ossoff told the story of a woman named Ellen from Atlanta who struggled with her insurance company after being diagnosed with a form of blood cancer called multiple myeloma.
“As Ellen told me, and I quote, ‘Having a corporation have their finger on the button on your life is ridiculous.’ Their minds are focused on profit margin. I just want to be hearty and alive,” he said. “Thankfully, Ellen’s cancer is currently in remission. Yet across America, insurance companies continue to deny or delay medically necessary health care.”
Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley said the issue was “worthy of reconsideration” but disagreed with bringing it up during debate on the immigration and deportation bill.
“The Department of Justice is already investigating health insurance fraud. The Senate also approved the appointment of a new deputy attorney general to combat fraud,” he said. “Furthermore, sending the reconciliation bill back to the Judiciary Committee would essentially kill it.”
The Senate disagreed with Ossoff’s motion following: 47-50 votes. Collins was the only Republican to vote with the Democrats.
