House Set to Vote on $70 Billion GOP Immigration Bill
The House is scheduled to vote Tuesday on a $70 billion Republican bill that would fund President Trump’s immigration enforcement agencies through the remainder of his term, after the Senate passed the measure early Friday following weeks of internal GOP turmoil. Final passage is expected after 4:30 p.m. ET, barring last-minute defections.
The legislation would allocate $38 billion to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), $26 billion to Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and $5 billion to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), locking in funding that Democrats have refused to provide without reforms since January 2026, when federal agents killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis during an immigration enforcement operation.
Senate Passage and the Vote-a-Rama
The Senate approved the bill 52-47 early Friday morning after a marathon “vote-a-rama” session that stretched from Thursday morning into the predawn hours. Only one Republican, Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, opposed the measure, joining all Democrats in voting against it, according to CBS News.
Republicans used the budget reconciliation process, which allows certain fiscal legislation to pass the Senate with a simple majority, bypassing the 60-vote filibuster threshold. The maneuver was necessary because Democrats have maintained a blockade on further ICE and Border Patrol funding since the Minneapolis incident.
Controversial Add-Ons Spark GOP Revolt
Two major Trump-backed proposals threatened to derail the bill. The president requested $1 billion for security upgrades related to a massive ballroom he is building at the White House, and a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund to compensate people who claim they were victimized by the government. Critics feared the fund could be used to pay participants in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
The ballroom funding was stripped after the Senate parliamentarian ruled it could not be included under reconciliation rules, as CBS News reported. The Justice Department said it would no longer pursue the anti-weaponization fund, though Trump has refused to rule it out.
According to GV Wire / The New York Times, the overnight session featured a series of Democratic amendments designed to force Republicans to take politically painful votes on Trump’s controversial priorities. Sen. Chuck Schumer, the minority leader, called the anti-weaponization fund “America’s most clear-cut case of corruption” and “Donald Trump’s slush fund.”
Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who was recently defeated by a Trump-backed challenger, held out for hours to secure a vote on an amendment barring the fund. “I just wanted to optimize chances for success,” Cassidy told reporters after his proposal was defeated.
House Dynamics and Speaker Johnson’s Challenge
Speaker Mike Johnson needs all 218 Republican-aligned lawmakers present to pass the bill against unanimous Democratic opposition. “We have to fund border enforcement and immigration enforcement, and everybody here knows that, so they’re going to have to put their personal preferences aside to get the job done,” Johnson said, according to CBS News.
At least one Republican-aligned member, Rep. Kevin Kiley of California, has announced he will vote against the bill, citing concerns about the “strictly party-line process” and calling for “significant bipartisan reforms to interior immigration enforcement.”
Analysis and Implications
The vote comes during the 2026 midterm election year, when control of Congress is at stake. Republicans are eager to highlight their hard-line immigration stance, while Democrats are forcing politically painful votes on Trump’s controversial priorities.
If passed, the bill would lock in immigration enforcement funding through the remainder of Trump’s term, reducing Congress’s ability to influence enforcement priorities through annual appropriations. The use of budget reconciliation for routine immigration funding could also set a precedent for bypassing normal bipartisan budget processes.
What’s Next
The House is expected to hold a procedural vote around 1:30 p.m. ET, with final passage anticipated after 4:30 p.m. ET. If the bill clears the House, it will head to President Trump’s desk for signature, ending a months-long stalemate over immigration enforcement funding.