U.S. Senate Votes 52-46 To Advance DHS Reconciliation Funding for ICE and Border Patrol

The U.S. Senate voted on Tuesday to launch a new effort to reopen the Department of Homeland Security and end the longest partial government shutdown in history, setting the stage for Republicans to secure funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol through budget reconciliation.

PBS News, citing the Associated Press, reported that the Senate voted 52-46 to proceed, describing it as “the first step in a budget process that Republicans hope will unlock the funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol.”

1819 News

CBS News similarly said the Senate advanced a budget resolution on Tuesday “in the first step toward funding immigration agencies under the Department of Homeland Security without help from Democrats,” approving a motion to proceed “in a 52 to 46 vote along party lines.”

The CBS account added that the vote needed only 51 votes to succeed and that the chamber was expected to hold a “vote-a-rama” later this week, where senators can offer an unlimited number of amendments and force repeated votes.

In the PBS account, Senate Budget Committee released an estimated $70 billion resolution to fund ICE and Border Patrol for three years, “through the rest of Trump's term,” while also noting that Republicans hoped to keep the bill narrowly focused.

The PBS story also framed the procedural stakes: “The budget process only requires a simple majority in the Senate, bypassing filibuster rules that require Republicans to find 60 votes on most bills when they only hold 53 seats.”

Both PBS and CBS described the Senate’s reconciliation path as a way to move forward without Democratic support, even as the process could face “increased scrutiny from the Senate parliamentarian and an open-ended series of amendment votes.”

The Senate’s reconciliation push is tied to a months-long funding standoff that has kept DHS partially shut down, with the dispute centered on whether Democrats will allow money for ICE and Customs and Border Protection.

CNBC reported that “Senate Republicans on Tuesday released the text of a budget resolution to fully fund two controversial immigration enforcement agencies at the heart of the ongoing Department of Homeland Security shutdown through the end of President Donald Trump's term,” and said opposition from Democrats to funding ICE and CBP “first triggered the partial shutdown of DHS and has kept it going.”

Al-Jazeera Net

CNBC also said Trump set a “June 1 deadline for passage of a final bill to fund the two divisions,” while CBS News reported that “The president set a June 1 deadline to get the final measure to his desk.”

CBS News added that the department has been shut down since “Feb. 14,” and described the sequence of earlier votes: the Senate unanimously approved a plan to fund the bulk of DHS without ICE or CBP, while House Republicans refused to do the same.

PBS News described how Senate Democrats blocked money for ICE and Border Patrol “since mid-February,” and said DHS funding lapsed with no agreement on changes to the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement tactics.

In PBS’s account, the immediate political trigger for the standoff was “the fatal shootings of two protesters by federal agents,” and it named the victims as Renee Good and Alex Pretti, after which Trump agreed to a Democratic request to separate the Homeland Security bill from a larger spending measure.

CNBC echoed that framing, saying Democrats refused to fund ICE and parts of CBP after “federal agents killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis in January,” and that “Funding lapsed for DHS in February.”

The procedural timeline described across outlets also included House action: CBS News said House Republicans passed a stopgap measure to extend funding for all of DHS through “May 22,” which then moved to the Senate and did not have enough votes to pass.

LaPatilla, describing the same Senate move, said Republicans would try to “reopen the government without the controversial funding for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Border Patrol,” and quoted House Speaker Mike Johnson saying on Tuesday that he “will not approve any partial DHS funding package until it is clear that ICE and the Border Patrol will not be left without resources.”

Republican leaders framed the reconciliation effort as urgent and necessary to secure the border, while Democrats argued it would pour money into immigration enforcement without restraints.

In PBS News, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called the budget workaround a “partisan sideshow” and said the resolution will pour money into immigration enforcement “without putting any restraints on these rogue agencies' rampant violence in our streets.”

PBS also quoted Senate Majority Leader John Thune saying, “It's not my preference, but it is reality,” as Republicans pursued budget reconciliation to bypass filibuster requirements.

CNBC quoted Senate Budget Committee Chair Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., saying, “Republicans are doing something that must be done quickly, and that our Democrat colleagues are trying to prevent us from doing,” and adding, “That something is simple: fully fund Border Patrol and ICE at a time of great threat to the United States.”

CNBC also included a direct response from Senate Appropriations Committee ranking member Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., who said, “Instead of doing literally anything to lower costs, Republicans are spending their time working hard to cut another massive blank check for ICE and Border Patrol — without any reforms, or even basic guardrails.”

PBS similarly quoted Murray, saying, “After the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, people across the country demanded ICE be reined in,” but that “instead of working with Democrats to enact real reform, Republicans rejected the most basic accountability measures, and now they're rushing to give ICE billions of dollars more.”

The dispute is also reflected in how Republicans describe the process itself: PBS reported that the budget process “bypassing filibuster rules” requires only a simple majority, while CBS News described the plan as a way to advance legislation “without the help of Democrats.”

The rhetoric from Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville, as carried by 1819 News, attacked Democratic delays and used a specific timeline, saying, “For those of you keeping count back home, today is 67 days since the Senate Democrats decided to hold [DHS] hostage to keep their voting base of illegal aliens happy,” and adding, “It makes me absolutely sick to my stomach.”

Tuberville urged leadership to “end this madness” by using reconciliation, and said, “We need to do whatever it takes to fund border patrol, ICE, TSA [and] Coast Guard so they have the resources needed to keep America safe,” according to the same report.

The reconciliation framework described by multiple outlets centers on committee instructions that cap increased deficits and allow up to $70 billion per committee, potentially totaling $140 billion for DHS immigration enforcement.

CBS News said the resolution “would authorize the Senate Judiciary and Homeland Security committees to draft legislation to increase spending by up to $70 billion each,” and that “The final bill's price tag is expected to be around $70 billion total.”

CNBC

PBS News reported that “The Senate Budget Committee on Tuesday released the estimated $70 billion resolution to fund ICE and Border Patrol for three years,” and described the process as a “complicated, time-consuming process called budget reconciliation.”

The Center for American Progress provided a more detailed breakdown, stating that “the budget resolution instructs the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC) to increase deficits by no more than $70 billion over the next 10 years; it also instructs the Senate Judiciary Committee not to exceed $70 billion in increased deficits,” and that “In total, that could technically allow for $140 billion more for DHS.”

The Debt Dispatch argued that Republicans are preparing to spend “up to $140 billion on immigration enforcement through reconciliation,” and insisted that “Congress should reject any reconciliation package that does not include at least $133 billion in offsetting spending cuts.”

The Debt Dispatch also said the Senate Budget Committee’s new budget resolution “authorizes $140 billion in new deficit spending,” and claimed “Importantly, the resolution includes no offsetting requirements and waives PAYGO.”

In the same vein, the American Action Forum described reconciliation as privileged in the Senate and said “reconciliation legislation is privileged, meaning it is not subject to a filibuster and the accompanying 60-vote threshold,” while also stating “Floor debate is limited to 20 hours” and that “The Senate can pass reconciliation legislation by a simple majority, rather than needing 60 votes to end debate.”

Across these accounts, the reconciliation process is presented as both a procedural shortcut and a contested fiscal mechanism, with Democrats and deficit-focused groups arguing about guardrails and offsets while Republicans push to move quickly.

The next steps in Congress, as described across outlets, involve committee drafting, a rapid Senate floor sequence, and House coordination under a deadline tied to President Donald Trump’s term.

CBS News said the resolution was released earlier in the day and that the Senate was expected to hold a “vote-a-rama” later this week, with senators offering amendments and forcing repeated votes.

France 24

CBS also reported that the resolution would authorize the Senate Judiciary and Homeland Security committees to draft legislation to increase spending by up to $70 billion each, and that the plan aimed to fund the agencies “for 3.5 years, guaranteeing funds for immigration enforcement through the remainder of the Trump administration.”

PBS News similarly said Republicans hoped to keep the bill narrowly focused and pass it “by the end of the month,” while also warning that the process could be altered through “an open-ended series of amendment votes.”

CNBC added that the resolution “directs the Senate's Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and Judiciary committees to draft final immigration enforcement bills,” and said Trump set a “June 1 deadline for passage of a final bill.”

In the House, CBS News quoted Mike Johnson saying, “The sequencing is important,” and that “We've got to make sure that we don't isolate and, as I say, make an orphan out of key agencies of the department.”

CBS News also said Thune was hopeful that if the Senate could “show evidence and progress” and proceed to the bill this week, “the House will move the funding for the rest of DHS forward.”

LaPatilla described the House condition in similar terms, quoting Johnson that he “will not approve any partial DHS funding package until it is clear that ICE and the Border Patrol will not be left without resources.”

The American Action Forum framed the reconciliation process itself as a tool that can be invoked with a “simple (51 vote) majority,” while also noting limitations including the “Byrd Rule” and that Congress must first adopt a budget resolution.