Washington — Senate Republicans advanced a package to fund the Department of Homeland Security’s immigration agencies on Wednesday, following a back-and-forth over the Justice Department’s “anti-weaponization” fund that threatened to derail the long-sought funding.
In a 53 to 46 vote, the Senate voted along party lines to proceed to the reconciliation package, setting up a marathon vote series before final passage. The “vote-a-rama” could begin as early as Wednesday evening, but Democrats appeared poised not to allow Republicans to speed up the process, pushing the votes into Thursday.
A revised version of one part of the package released Wednesday also dropped language that would have provided $1 billion in security funding for the Secret Service, including for President Trump’s East Wing renovation, where he plans to build a massive ballroom. That funding faced intense scrutiny from a handful of Republicans, prompting senators to abandon it.
Last month, Republicans on the Senate Judiciary and Homeland Security committees unveiled the initial text of the $72 billion package, which funds immigration agencies through fiscal year 2029.
GOP senators have been seeking assurances from the administration about the fate of the controversial Justice Department fund, which was the subject of a heated meeting with acting Attorney General Todd Blanche two weeks ago. Blanche testified before a House committee on Tuesday that “we are not moving forward with the fund.”
The DOJ program, which aimed to provide taxpayer-funded payouts to individuals who alleged the federal government had been “weaponized” against them, sparked intense pushback on Capitol Hill. And some Republicans continued to express reservations Tuesday that the fund could be resurrected despite Blanche’s assurances.
But Senate Majority Leader John Thune was confident after Blanche’s testimony meant that Republicans would have the support necessary to proceed to the legislation Wednesday. Thune said that “most of our members feel pretty satisfied” with Blanche’s comments, noting that they occurred during a public hearing under oath, despite Blanche’s refusal to put anything in writing.
“His comments were extremely helpful,” Thune said. “Whether they are enough for some of our members, we’ll find out.”
A handful of Senate Republicans have signaled that they remain skeptical, like Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina and John Cornyn of Texas. Cornyn anticipated Tuesday that Blanche’s comments may not be “good enough for some people,” while Tillis indicated to reporters that he will offer an amendment on the reconciliation bill to address the fund, arguing that additional action needs to be taken to ensure it’s dead for good.
“I think even DOJ knows that this was a bad idea and what we need to do is provide finality,” Tillis said. “They’ve said that they’ve quiesced the program, then why can’t we just take the step of statutorily eliminating the question, so that a future decision to reopen it is eliminated?”
Underscoring Tillis’ point shortly after the Senate vote, the president declined to say the fund was totally abandoned, telling reporters at the White House that he would “have to ask the lawyers.”
“The weaponization fund, as far as I’m concerned, was a beautiful thing,” he said. “I thought that was the greatest thing, because people like you have abused our people so badly.”
Asked about Tillis’ reservations, and the possibility that he could oppose the package, Thune told reporters “we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”
Thune said “we feel good going into it.”
“We’ve had a lot of conversations with our members and understand what’s at stake and how critical it is that we defeat amendments that would be corrosive to the bill,” the GOP leader said.
Democrats are expected to put forward a number of amendments aimed at the DOJ fund. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer pledged earlier this week that Democrats would launch a coordinated effort to quash it. “No matter what Republicans do, we will force them to vote,” he said.
The movement on reconciliation comes after months of Democrats opposing funding for the immigration enforcement agencies. Republicans have been moving ahead with their plan on their own through the budget reconciliation process, which sidesteps the 60-vote threshold required to advance most legislation.