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ICE Bill Clears Senate
The U.S. Senate passed a $70 billion immigration enforcement package to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol, voting 52-47 early Friday after weeks of delays tied to backlash over a separate $1.776 billion settlement fund.
“Senate approves $70 billion immigration enforcement bill It passed without amendments to address the so-called "Anti-Weaponization Fund”
NBC News said the Senate action came after bipartisan backlash over President Donald Trump’s proposed $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund threatened to derail the bill, and the measure now goes to the House for consideration.
AP reported the final vote came just before 5 a.m., after Republicans narrowly defeated efforts to permanently ban Trump’s settlement fund for allies who believe they were politically persecuted.
CNN said the bill funds ICE and border patrol through the rest of Trump’s term and went to the House after a marathon 18-hour voting session, with only one Republican, Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, voting against it.
In remarks carried by NBC News, Trump told “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin that Iranian leaders have not yet reached a deal with the U.S. to end the war because they’re “strong” and “proud,” but “they’ve got no choice” except to reach an agreement.
Anti-Weaponization Fight
The Senate approved the $70 billion bill without amendments to permanently end the administration’s $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund,” with ABC News saying it passed “without amendments to address the so-called "Anti-Weaponization Fund."”
ABC News also quoted Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer saying, “After tonight's vote, it's clear to Americans that Republicans refuse to outlaw Donald Trump's $2 billion slush fund,” as Democrats and some Republicans sought limits during the overnight process.
NPR described the overnight vote-a-rama as exposing rifts within Senate Republicans, with Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska voting against the package and the fight centered on the proposed $1.8 billion fund to distribute taxpayer dollars to people who allege they have been politically targeted.
NBC News reported the Justice Department told a federal judge that even though the $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund is “not going forward,” it still opposes court action to block the initiative on a more permanent basis.
In a separate procedural vote, CNN said the Senate blocked consideration of a contentious bill to reauthorize the nation’s spy powers, known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, after Democrats raised concerns about Trump appointing Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence.
House Next, Political Stakes
With the Senate vote completed, the bill now heads to the House, which AP said is expected to take it up next week, after Republicans defeated multiple attempts to add language that would permanently ban Trump’s settlement fund.
NBC News said the Republican-backed measure does not include any limits on how the $1.8 billion fund would be used, and it described the Senate’s passage as following bipartisan backlash that threatened to derail the GOP bill.
NPR reported that the fund originated as part of an out-of-court settlement resolving a $10 billion lawsuit brought by President Trump against his own government over the 2019 leak of his tax records, and it noted Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, “I don't know.”
CNN said acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told lawmakers earlier in the week that the administration is “not moving forward with the fund, period,” while Trump refused to commit to scrapping it permanently and told CNN, “I’d have to ask the lawyers, I don’t know.”
Beyond immigration funding, NBC News also noted Senate Democrats blocked a vote to start consideration of a long-term extension of warrantless surveillance authority under FISA after concerns about Trump’s appointment of Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence.
