The Senate voted to proceed with a Republican reconciliation bill that would provide about $72 billion for immigration enforcement agencies through fiscal year 2029, after a mid-May delay tied to controversy over a proposed Justice Department “anti-weaponization” fund.
Senate Republicans moved ahead Tuesday with a budget reconciliation package to fund immigration enforcement agencies through fiscal year 2029. The Senate voted to proceed with the bill largely along party lines. The package would provide about $72 billion for agencies including Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection. The legislation’s path had stalled in mid-May, when senators left Washington for a recess without taking up the measure amid bipartisan concerns about the Trump administration’s proposed “anti-weaponization” fund—an initiative that drew criticism as a potential vehicle to compensate people who say they were improperly targeted by the federal government. In recent days, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told lawmakers the Justice Department would not move forward with the anti-weaponization fund, easing some lawmakers’ objections. But President Donald Trump later declined to clearly confirm the fund was definitively over, praising the idea while telling reporters he would need to consult lawyers about its status. The reconciliation package also omits nearly $1 billion that had been included in earlier drafts for the U.S. Secret Service, including funding tied to security needs connected to Trump’s planned White House ballroom. Democrats are expected to use the Senate’s marathon amendment process—often called a vote-a-rama—to force votes on a series of politically difficult amendments. Reconciliation is a budget procedure that allows the Senate majority to advance legislation with a simple majority, avoiding the chamber’s typical 60-vote threshold needed to overcome a filibuster for most bills.
