Senate passes bill for more ICE funding after all-night session, attempts to limit Trump settlement fund fail

The U.S. Senate handed President Donald Trump a victory early Friday morning, passing a bill that would provide the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) with an additional $70 billion US for immigration ‌enforcement and sending it to the House of Representatives for final consideration.

In the 52-47 Senate vote, there was no support from Democrats. Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska opposed the bill.

Nearly all of the immigration bill’s funding would go to DHS’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agencies, which are carrying out the Trump administration’s expansive deportation effort throughout ⁠the U.S.

Republicans accused Democrats of “defunding” ICE and CBP despite the agencies having a combined $100 billion in unspent funds that was part of a larger DHS spending package enacted last year by Republicans. The funding provided by the bill would help ⁠pay for Trump’s controversial migrant deportation crackdown over ⁠the next three years.

Much of Thursday’s long debate was overshadowed by efforts from Democrats, and some ​Republicans, to insert language unrelated to immigration. Those proposals revolved around prohibiting the use of federal funds and even private donations for building the lavish, 90,000-square-foot ballroom on White House grounds that Trump wants.

Senators also debated provisions making it illegal for federal dollars to be used for the so-called anti-weaponization fund ​that could compensate Trump’s political allies for allegations that the government mistreated them, as well as those who received clemency from the administration after being convicted of offences related to U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.

None of those amendments were approved, despite the fact several Republicans in the past few weeks have criticized the $1.8-billion fund, both in substance and for its timing, as many Americans struggle with cost of living issues due to rising prices.

“This would have been done several hours ago if we weren’t having to deal with some of the issues around the fund,” Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota told reporters between amendment votes.

Uncertainty about fund’s future

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in congressional committee testimony this week that the fund wasn’t moving forward, but on Wednesday, Trump declined to say whether it had actually been terminated, telling reporters: “I ​love it. I think it’s so important.”

Blanche also told lawmakers that an agreement with Trump to bar future audits of his or his family’s past tax records will remain in place.

Republicans cleared a major hurdle overnight when they defeated an amendment proposed by one of their own members, Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, that would have redirected payments from the settlement to members of law enforcement who were injured in the Jan. 6 attacks. The amendment was a pointed rebuke from Cassidy, who is likely in his final months serving in the chamber after he was defeated in a recent midterm primary by a Trump-backed candidate.

Despite Blanche’s comments, Cassidy said the fund is still part of an active settlement and “absolutely can be used.”

An initial move by Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer to kill the fund, which Democrats call a “slush fund” for Trump’s allies, brought the session to a largely procedural halt for hours after Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine voted for the motion. She was later joined by ⁠fellow Republicans Jon Husted and Dan Sullivan.

Schumer’s measure failed in a 50-49 vote but exposed the political turmoil among rank-and-file Senate Republicans. Some of them sought their own amendments to eliminate the fund permanently, five months before the November midterm elections.

“Republicans refused to permanently outlaw Trump’s $2-billion ‌slush fund, leaving taxpayers to rely on nothing more than a promise from Donald Trump’s personal fixer,” Schumer said in a statement after the vote, referring to Blanche. “That is not accountability. That is a permission slip.”

Collins, Husted and Sullivan all face competitive races for re-election at a time when Trump’s approval rating is down, even among Republicans.

The Senate then rejected a second amendment from Republican Thom Tillis of North Carolina that would also have banned the settlement fund, but moved the money to a separate anti-fraud fund at the Department of Justice. Most Democrats voted against the amendment, guaranteeing its defeat, but more than 10 Republicans supported it.

“If Blanche says this is largely inoperative, why not use this moment to codify that?” Tillis said. “Otherwise, you’re exposing every one of our members who are in cycle to having to deal with this between today and Election Day, and that makes no sense for something that the [Justice Department] says they’re not moving forward with.”

A number of other recent actions by Trump have prompted open criticism from some Republicans, from seeking $1 billion in taxpayer funding for a White House ballroom and security upgrades, to his decision to nominate political ally Bill Pulte as U.S. intelligence chief despite Pulte’s lack of national security or military experience.

The House is not expected to take up the measure before next week, according to Republican leaders.