Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and fellow Republicans pushed forward with a long-stalled plan to fund immigration enforcement agencies, voting to open debate on a $72 billion reconciliation package that would extend funding through fiscal year 2029, according to NPR.
The vote came after a delay in mid-May, when senators left for a recess without passing the GOP-backed measure. The hold-up centered on the Trump administration’s effort to include an “anti-weaponization” fund that would have used taxpayer dollars to compensate people who allege being targeted by the federal government.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche recently told members of Congress the administration had scrapped plans for that fund, which appeared to ease bipartisan concerns among lawmakers, NPR reported.
But President Trump did not confirm the fund was dead. “The weaponization fund, as far as I’m concerned, was a beautiful thing,” Trump told reporters Wednesday in the Oval Office. Pressed on whether it was canceled or merely on hold, Trump said: “It’s … I’d have to ask the lawyers, I don’t know.”
The package relies on budget reconciliation, a tool that allows the party in control to pass legislation with a simple 51-vote majority in the Senate instead of the usual 60-vote threshold needed to overcome a filibuster. Republicans hold 53 seats.
Absent from the package is language that would have provided nearly $1 billion for the Secret Service, including funds for the security of President Trump’s planned ballroom at the White House.
During the “vote-a-rama” phase of the reconciliation process, Democrats are expected to force their Republican colleagues to take a series of votes on amendments, a procedural tactic that can stretch into a marathon session as senators offer amendments until members exhaust their supply or decide to stop.