Senate Republicans Push Separate Funding Plan for ICE and Border Patrol Agencies

Senate Republicans pressed ahead with a separate funding track for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection on April 21, moving a budget resolution on a 52-46 party-line vote that could let them bypass Democrats and write the next phase of homeland security spending on their own. The plan authorizes the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee to draft legislation with spending caps of up to $70 billion each, a scale that shows how much is riding on the fight and how far Republicans are willing to go to keep control of the issue.

The move came after weeks of shutdown brinkmanship over the Department of Homeland Security. On March 27, the Senate unanimously agreed to fund most of DHS except ICE and CBP after a 42-day funding lapse had produced visible strain, including airport delays and unpaid TSA workers. The measure reached the Senate at 2:20 a.m. after a marathon session, a reminder that the homeland security debate has already spilled from Capitol Hill into the daily routines of travelers and federal workers.

House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune then unveiled a two-track strategy on April 1: fund the bulk of DHS first, then return later to finance ICE and CBP separately through party-line budget legislation. House Republicans resisted the Senate version, exposing a familiar split inside the governing party just as Republicans control both chambers and are being asked to show they can actually govern. The Republican goal is to finance ICE and CBP for 3.5 years, through the rest of President Donald Trump’s term, with Trump setting a June 1 deadline for final passage.

Democrats have rejected the new push, arguing that it hands ICE and Border Patrol a large funding package without reforms or guardrails. Republicans have defended the effort by tying it to the January killings of two Americans in Minneapolis and arguing that border security demands a bigger, cleaner funding bill. The dispute has become a test of whether Republicans can turn control of the House and Senate into results, or whether voters will see only repeated internal fights, shutdown threats and last-minute procedural maneuvers.

With the midterms approaching, that question matters far beyond Washington. Airport delays, furloughed workers and another round of stop-and-go funding fights send a simple message home: the party in charge is still struggling to keep the government open, much less settle one of its most politically charged priorities.