Senate Passes $70B Immigration Enforcement Bill After 18-Hour Marathon Vote
The U.S. Senate passed a $70 billion bill early Friday morning to fund the Trump administration's immigration enforcement agencies through his entire term, after weeks of delays and heated debate over a controversial settlement fund.
What Happened
The Senate passed legislation to fund President Donald Trump's immigration enforcement agencies early Friday morning, after weeks of delays and fierce backlash to an unrelated $1.776 billion settlement fund that threatened to derail the bill. Senators voted 52-47 for the $70 billion legislation to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol for the next three years, through the end of Trump's term.
The final vote occurred just before 5 a.m. Friday, concluding an extraordinarily long overnight voting session. After a marathon 18-hour voting session in which only one Republican voted against it. Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska was the only Republican who voted against it.
The Settlement Fund Controversy
The bill's passage came after intense GOP infighting over a separate $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization" settlement fund that had threatened to derail the legislation entirely. The final vote came just before 5 a.m., after Republicans narrowly defeated multiple attempts by Democrats and Republicans to add language to the bill that would permanently ban Trump's settlement fund for political allies who believe they have been politically persecuted.
In another win for Trump, Republicans ultimately approved the bill without killing the $1.8 billion Justice Department fund he had supported to compensate people who claim to have been victimized by the federal government. But GOP senators still endured hours of painful political votes, in which they repeatedly rejected efforts to formally kill the fund.
Democratic Opposition
Democrats united against the measure. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., criticized Republicans for passing the "rotten" bill. "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.
What Comes Next
The bill now goes to the House for final passage after the marathon voting session. The legislation is expected to be Trump's last major legislative victory before the midterm elections.