Senate Republicans adopted a budget resolution to fund ICE and the Border Patrol
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The Senate is one step closer to funding immigration after a series of marathon votes that dragged into Thursday morning.
Senate Republicans have passed their budget resolution, which includes funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Border Patrol, and completely removes Democrats from the process.
The first major part of the budget reconciliation process, which Republicans have re-entered after Democrats refused to fund ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) without drastic changes.
Despite the fact that most Republicans are on the same page on the way, Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, voted against the budget plan.
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President Donald Trump addresses reporters before boarding Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, on April 10, 2026. (Wina McNamee/Getty Images)
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., warned Republicans against planning to spend billions of taxpayer dollars instead of dealing with rising costs.
“America is crying out for relief from high costs, and here you are adding $140 billion to an agency that no one — two agencies — Border Patrol and ICE, that no one in this country respects,” Schumer said.
Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., responded that ICE and Border Patrol agents are not the problem, “the Democrats are.”
“Today’s Democrats are a corrupt and powerful group,” Barrasso said. “You deserve better than a reckless Democrat kidnapping. You deserve the tools and support from Congress necessary to accomplish the mission Congress has given you. Our country depends on you.”
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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer speaks during a news conference after the Democratic Alliance policy luncheon at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on April 14, 2026. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
The Senate GOP plan will fund both parties for the remainder of President Donald Trump’s term. Republicans want to front-load the agencies with more than $70 billion out of concern that Democrats won’t agree to give them taxpayer dollars again.
Lawmakers threw in amendment vote after amendment vote, with Democrats including several additions to the budget plan designed to attack Republicans.
Many of the Democratic amendments have targeted affordability and economic problems in the country, and all have failed with party support.
But the night is not without drama drama.
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., who is pushing to expand the scope of the upcoming reconciliation package despite GOP leadership and the White House wanting to keep it consistent with immigration enforcement, threatened to derail the process.
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Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said the secret briefing reinforces his view that Iran’s leaders will use a nuclear weapon if they get one during a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing in Washington, DC. (Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters)
He wanted to include a number of amendments at the end that would not be considered a precursor to the resolution and would have failed without the support of the Democrats. One of those additions was a version of the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act.
“If you don’t want to vote for it, don’t vote for it,” Kennedy said. “All I ask is that you think about it, trust our Rules Committee, follow your heart, but go with your brain. Because the American people, Democrats and Republicans and independents, are questioning our election.”
His amendment ultimately failed.
Meanwhile, the adoption of the budget resolution does not immediately initiate reconciliation. The House will now have to adopt the same plan or change it — which would send the decision back to the Senate and open another marathon voting session.
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While Republicans move forward with the process of responding to Democrats’ objections to funding ICE and CBP, others are grappling with the potential consequences of defunding the agencies and, more broadly, the entire federal government moving forward.
Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., told Fox News Digital that she is “disappointed that we are where we are, but I understand the need to fund these parts of the organization.”
“I’m really disappointed, because I think it changes the way we move forward with the budget, not for the better,” Britt said. “And I’m not just that.”
