{"id":101115,"date":"2026-04-23T12:11:58","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T18:11:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kcnonline.com\/wp\/?p=101115"},"modified":"2026-04-23T12:27:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T18:27:08","slug":"senate-gop-adopts-blueprint-for-ice-funding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kcnonline.com\/wp\/2026\/04\/23\/senate-gop-adopts-blueprint-for-ice-funding\/","title":{"rendered":"Senate GOP Adopts Blueprint for ICE Funding"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Jennifer Shutt, States Newsroom<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 U.S. Senate Republicans approved a budget resolution early Thursday intended to speed the way for billions for immigration enforcement, sending the measure to the House, where GOP lawmakers in that chamber need to adopt it to unlock the reconciliation process. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 50-48 vote<\/a> followed a marathon amendment voting session that Democrats used to highlight policy differences on cost-of-living issues and stalled federal emergency relief dollars for states. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul were the two Republicans to vote against approving the measure. Sens. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and Mark Warner, D-Va., did not vote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said just before the vote-a-rama began that Democrats would put Republicans on the record about the soaring cost of living<\/a> and the Trump administration\u2019s immigration crackdown. <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAmerica will see even more clearly tonight where the Republicans are \u2014 not on the side of lowering costs, but on the side of masked agents occupying our streets,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Republicans plan to use the complex budget reconciliation process<\/a>, which avoids the need for Democratic support in the Senate, to provide between $70 billion and $140 billion in additional funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The money is supposed to cover those agencies for the next three years, avoiding the need for Republicans to negotiate constraints on immigration activities with Democrats, who have been calling for guardrails<\/a> since federal agents shot and killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis in January. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When combined with the Senate-passed bill that funds the vast majority of the Department of Homeland Security for the current fiscal year, the two pieces of legislation are expected to end the ongoing shutdown at that department, which began in mid-February. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One amendment adopted, 15 turned down<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Senators ultimately debated 16 amendments, 12 offered by Democrats and four proposed by Republicans. The only one adopted was from South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, which senators approved on a 98-0 vote<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The proposal would create a reserve fund to bolster federal immigration agents\u2019 ability to detain and deport adults who entered the country without proper documentation and were then convicted of rape, murder, or sexual abuse of a minor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEverybody in this body should be for this,\u201d Graham said. \u201cThese people need to be caught, put in jail, or kicked out of our country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin said he supported the amendment because \u201cunder current law, undocumented immigrants who are convicted of rape, murder, or sexual abuse of a minor are subject to mandatory detention and deportation.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat we object to is what is happening in the streets of Minneapolis and Chicago,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SAVE America Act sidelined<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Louisiana Republican Sen. John Kennedy tried but was ultimately unable to convince his colleagues to add a new set of instructions to the budget resolution that would have allowed the Rules & Administration Committee to write a voter identification law. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kennedy said he wanted that bill to have three provisions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRequire that in federal elections, you have to be an American citizen to vote and provide for the provisions to enforce that. Number two, it would require that in federal elections, you have to prove you are who you say you are in order to vote, and it would provide provisions to enforce that,\u201d he said. \u201cNumber three, it further instructs the Rules Committee that we\u2019re going to go back to having an Election Day and not an election month, and it instructs the Rules Committee to provide the provisions to enforce that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

California Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla, the ranking member of the rules panel, opposed the amendment during debate, saying he couldn\u2019t believe lawmakers were once again experiencing a \u201cpartisan attempt to rush through what I refer to as a solution in search of a problem.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDespite the president\u2019s claims, there is zero evidence of massive voter fraud across the country, which is the premise of these proposals,\u201d he said. \u201cSo not only is it a solution in search of a problem, to paraphrase a wise man, this measure is all foam and no beer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Padilla added that a provision in Kennedy\u2019s amendment would have required states to count ballots within 36 hours of an election, a new mandate he said could cause considerable problems for larger states with millions of voters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s unfortunate elections administration has been turned into a partisan issue,\u201d he said. \u201cI actually ask our colleagues to protect the early voters, not just in my state but in yours. Protect vote-by-mail opportunities, not just in my state but in yours. Let\u2019s protect women who are married and change their name and their right to vote, not just in my state but in yours.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Senators did not agree to waive a point of order against Kennedy\u2019s amendment on a 48-50 vote<\/a>. Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Murkowski and Thom Tillis of North Carolina voted with Democrats. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ban on Planned Parenthood funding via Medicaid<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley tried unsuccessfully to create a pathway to extend the one-year prohibition on Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood that the GOP included in its \u201cbig, beautiful\u201d law. That funding ban expires on July 4. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hawley didn\u2019t speak about abortion access during debate but focused his criticism of the organization on gender-affirming health care services for transgender youth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUnder no circumstance should Medicaid money dedicated to the poor and the needy be used for transgender surgeries and treatments for minor children,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is a moral outrage. This body has a duty to stand against it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Planned Parenthood\u2019s website<\/a> states the organization provides surgery referrals as well as hormone therapy, puberty blockers and \u201ctransition support.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oregon Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden argued the amendment represented \u201cRepublicans\u2019 latest attempt to strip women of the health care they need and depend on so that they can go score some political points.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Senators didn\u2019t agree to waive a point of order against the amendment, which would have allowed it to move forward, by a vote<\/a> of 50-48. Collins and Murkowski voted with Democrats. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Private equity and home ownership<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Senators rejected an amendment from Oregon Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley that would have addressed the rising cost of housing after he invoked comments President Donald Trump made during his State of the Union address. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have an opportunity tonight to send a message that we agree with the president, that we have a challenge in home ownership, because home ownership is dying,\u201d Merkley said. \u201cAnd one of the factors is private equity buying up the homes.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ohio Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno spoke out against adopting the amendment, saying lawmakers have already addressed it in a bipartisan way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI obviously urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment, because we\u2019ve already passed it,\u201d he said. We\u2019ve already solved this problem. In fact, congratulations to all of us. 89 to 10. We banned institutional ownership of single-family homes. I think that\u2019s fantastic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Senate voted in March to approve a bill designed to increase the country\u2019s housing supply, according to reporting<\/a> from NPR. But since the House has approved a bill of its own, the two chambers will need to work out their differences before any housing bill becomes law. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Senators did not agree to adopt Merkley\u2019s amendment following a 46-52 party-line vote<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Disaster relief funds from FEMA<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

California Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff proposed an amendment that would have addressed stalled funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which he said is \u201cholding more than $3 billion in disaster relief funding for California.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut as we debate this budget resolution, I know our state of California is not alone,\u201d he said. \u201cNorth Carolina is waiting on millions in relief designated for Hurricane Helene in 2024. Kentucky saw landslides and flooding just weeks after Los Angeles County burned. Florida and the Gulf Coast have also been battered. Texas communities under siege from last year\u2019s floods have still not seen the federal relief their communities need and deserve.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oklahoma Republican Sen. James Lankford opposed the amendment, saying that while he agrees FEMA funds need to get to communities, the best way to do that is for the House to pass the annual funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security, which the Senate already approved. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

House GOP leaders are holding on to that bill<\/a> instead of putting it on the floor as they wait for the reconciliation process to play out. That Senate-passed DHS bill funds FEMA and all of the agencies that make up the department except ICE and Border Patrol. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur challenge has been, we\u2019ve been in a government shutdown on DHS now for two months,\u201d Lankford said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got to be able to get those funds released. That means we\u2019ve got to get DHS funding completely done for all of DHS. We have FEMA employees that are being paid but they don\u2019t have program dollars that they can actually release.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Senate rejected the amendment following a 49-49 vote<\/a>. Collins, Florida Sen. Ashley Moody and Murkowski voted with Democrats. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Jennifer Shutt, States Newsroom WASHINGTON \u2014 U.S. Senate Republicans approved a budget resolution early Thursday intended to speed the way for billions for immigration enforcement, sending the measure to the House, where GOP lawmakers in that chamber need to adopt it to unlock the reconciliation process.  The 50-48 vote followed a marathon amendment voting session that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[1098,3295],"class_list":["post-101115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national","tag-immigration","tag-u-s-senate"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kcnonline.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101115","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kcnonline.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kcnonline.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kcnonline.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kcnonline.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101115"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.kcnonline.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101115\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":101116,"href":"https:\/\/www.kcnonline.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101115\/revisions\/101116"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kcnonline.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kcnonline.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kcnonline.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}