A $70 billion immigration enforcement bill cleared a key hurdle in the House Rules Committee on Monday and the House is scheduled to vote Tuesday around 4:30 p.m. on legislation that would fund immigration enforcement agencies through the rest of President Trump's term.
The panel voted 7-4 to advance the legislation after meeting for more than six hours, and Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx said, "The motion to report is agreed to."
During the hearing, Democrats forced votes on several failed amendments related to the "anti-weaponization fund," including one that would prohibit Jan. 6 rioters from receiving federal compensation; other failed amendment votes were related to the Affordable Care Act tax credits and additional training requirements for immigration enforcement officers.
The package, known as the "Secure America Act," was approved by the Senate early Friday following weeks of roadblocks.
Republicans used the budget reconciliation process to fund immigration-related agencies, a move that allows passage by a simple majority in the Senate and bypasses the 60-vote filibuster threshold; Democrats have refused to fund ICE and Border Patrol without reforms. Barring last-minute hiccups among House Republicans, passage would bring an end to the months-long stalemate over funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol.
House GOP leaders had expected to hold a vote late last week but delayed taking up the measure until this week. Both chambers had hoped to have the bill on President Trump's desk by Memorial Day to meet his June 1 deadline, but those plans were impeded by the president's request for $1 billion related to construction of a ballroom at the White House and the announcement of a nearly $1.8 billion Justice Department fund to pay people who claim they were politically persecuted. Language for ballroom security funding was ultimately stripped from the legislation and the Justice Department said it would no longer pursue the "anti-weaponization" fund; a number of amendments to formally bar such payouts were defeated during a marathon session of votes in the Senate that stretched from Thursday morning into the early hours of Friday.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said, "We'll pass it," and added, "I have a very small margin for error, as you know, so we'll get it through, but we have to fund border enforcement and immigration enforcement, and everybody here knows that, so they're going to have to put their personal preferences aside to get the job done." He said "yeah" when asked if he had concerns about attendance for votes Tuesday due to primary races and called the primary season "a real challenge for having votes." Asked if the reconciliation votes could get kicked to Wednesday, Johnson said, "I don’t think so."
Congress has already funded the Department of Homeland Security, excluding Immigration and Customs Enforcement and CPBP; those agencies were excluded from budget negotiations to end the historic partial government shutdown earlier this year.