Betting against President Donald Trump is never a good bet. No matter how unlikely a victory seems for him at times, he almost always comes out ahead. And he did so again on Thursday.
The Senate on Thursday approved a budget reconciliation package that would provide
funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) through 2029, sending the legislation to the House for final consideration.
The measure passed with support from most Senate Republicans and represents a major victory for the administration’s immigration agenda. The bill secures long-term funding for federal immigration enforcement operations while rejecting several policy changes sought by Democrats during negotiations.
Democratic lawmakers had pushed for stricter limitations on immigration enforcement, including requiring judicial warrants rather than administrative warrants for immigration-related arrests, restricting the use of face coverings by federal agents, and curbing certain enforcement operations conducted away from fixed locations.
Republicans rejected those proposals, arguing that such restrictions would hamper law enforcement’s ability to carry out immigration laws and secure the border effectively.
Democrats, of course, rejected the measure because mass deportations mean their states will end up with fewer seats in Congress after the 2030 census. The America Last party, always.
“Democrats side with illegals over American citizens every chance they get. But thanks to reconciliation, we didn’t need their votes or have to accept their radical demands that would have tied the hands of federal law enforcement,” Sen. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) told TownHall.
“Now ICE and CBP have the funding they need to keep the
border secure and continue mass deportations through the end of President Trump’s term,” he noted further.
Most funding for Trump’s mass deportation came through the Big, Beautiful Bill last year. But Democrats made sure to shut down funding for other agencies under DHS for three months while they continued to get paid because that’s who they are.
Naturally, domestic terrorist leader Schumer took to his X account to trash immigration enforcement he used to champion.
Senate Republicans just passed a rotten bill that makes their priorities painfully clear:
More money for Donald Trump, more power for Donald Trump, and nothing to lower costs for working families. pic.twitter.com/keisHYfXVu
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) June 5, 2026
What a difference a couple of decades make. To think that clinging to your BS congressional job at the expense of American security and safety is a thing is beyond disgraceful.
In any event, the bill now goes to the GOP-controlled House, where all Republicans except loser Thomas Massie will vote for and pass it.
The earlier article also describes disagreements about warrants, face coverings and enforcement away from fixed locations. Those issues concern restrictions on how agencies use their authority. Funding votes and proposals for operational restrictions can move separately. The recorded votes show the disposition of the bill and do not establish a single motive shared by every legislator who opposed it.
The fiscal-year reference is also important. Fiscal year 2029 is the period covered by the funding provision described by CRS. It is different from the date Congress voted to enact that funding. A post that repeats the year without giving the date of the vote makes it hard to tell whether it is describing a proposal, a vote or a law already in force.
The bill’s funding provisions and the proposed operational restrictions were separate parts of the negotiations described in the article. A vote on the funding package advanced the appropriations question, while the dispute over how agents should carry out arrests remained a point of disagreement. As the original story went to publication, the next step described was consideration in the House. Supporters regarded the Senate vote as an important win because it advanced funding through 2029 and left the disputed restrictions outside the package.
