BREAKING: Senate passes $70 BILLION package to fully fund DHS, ICE

The Senate has passed a $70 billion package that will fully fund the Department of Homeland Security, Border Patrol, as well as Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The Senate voted 52 to 47 to pass the package through reconciliation.  

Included in the legislation is a provision to surge ICE into sanctuary city jurisdictions in order to arrest illegal immigrants who are being released from prisons. The final vote on the legislation came just before 5 am on Friday after a vote-a-rama where amendments were proposed by various members of both parties. 

The only GOP lawmaker in the Senate to vote against it was Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. She said in a post on X, “While I support funding to secure our borders and protect the homeland, I do not support bypassing the annual appropriations process by providing funding for multiple years in a manner that diminishes both congressional direction and oversight.” 

https://x.com/lisamurkowski/status/2062911600101605799?s=20 

“By choosing to appropriate funding for three fiscal years instead of one, this measure weakens the normal budgeting process and sets another precedent for avoiding it when we find ourselves in disagreement. In doing so, it reduces Congress’ ability to apply reasonable checks on immigration policy for the remainder of this administration and into the next,” she added. 

The vote to pass the funding comes after DHS has not been fully funded for months due to efforts from Democrats to block and limit ICE and Border Patrol funding. They had been pushing to reform ICE rules to hamper how much the agency can carry out arrests. Proposed changs included requiring judicial warrants instead of administrative warrants as well as others.