The US Senate has passed a $70 billion bill to fund President Donald Trump‘s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Border Patrol. The bill was approved in a 52–47 Senate vote, with no Democratic support and a single Republican voting against it.
The US Senate passed a $70 billion bill to fund ICE, and fails to ban Donald Trump’s “anti-weaponization fund”
According to CNBC, Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski voted against the bill. The voting began early on June 4. The Senate voted overnight in an 18-hour vote-a-rama to pass the bill. It includes about $38 billion for ICE, $22 billion for Border Patrol, and $5 billion for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), reports News Radio 570 WKBN. The funding will be available until the end of fiscal year 2029.
As per CNBC, a move by Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer to block the “anti-weaponization” fund, which Democrats call a “slush fund” for Trump allies, delayed the session for hours. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D said, as stated by AP, “This would have been done several hours ago if we weren’t having to deal with some of the issues around the fund.”
After the bill was passed, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham took it to X, writing, “As Budget Committee Chairman, I’m very proud of my Republican colleagues for sticking together and making sure that Border Patrol and ICE are fully funded and the border continues to be modernized and secured – all without one Democrat vote.” And further added, “In less than two years, President Trump has taken the border from the most broken to the most secure in history. The bill we passed today locks those gains in through the rest of his term.”
Republicans accused Democrats of trying to defund ICE and Border Patrol, even though these agencies have about $100 billion in unused funds from a larger DHS spending bill passed last year by Republicans, who control Congress. The bill now goes to the House, which is expected to consider it next week.
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