Senate Returns to ICE Funding Bill After DOJ Fund Dispute Blew Up Pre-Recess Vote

WASHINGTON - Senate Republicans returned from Memorial Day recess Monday with unfinished business on a $72 billion reconciliation bill to fund federal immigration enforcement agencies, after a dispute over a Justice Department slush fund derailed a scheduled vote two weeks ago and caused the package to miss a self-imposed White House deadline.

The bill, which would fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection for three years, traces its origins to a prolonged funding lapse at the Department of Homeland Security. According to CBS News, the DHS shutdown lasted a record-breaking 76 days after Senate Democrats refused to fund the agencies absent major reforms to immigration enforcement following the shooting deaths of two U.S. citizens by federal agents in Minneapolis earlier this year.

Senate Republicans chose to pursue funding through budget reconciliation rather than negotiate with Democrats. The Senate passed a budget resolution on April 23 by a vote of 50-48, with Senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Rand Paul of Kentucky the only Republicans in opposition, according to a report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition. The House adopted the same resolution 215-211 on April 29, as reported by CBS News.

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee subsequently passed a reconciliation measure 8-5 that included $9.5 billion for CBP recruitment and nearly $7.5 billion for ICE recruitment for fiscal year 2026, as well as roughly $3.5 billion for other CBP operations through fiscal 2029, according to Federal News Network.

But the floor vote collapsed before the Memorial Day break. CBS News reported that the Senate had been prepared to take up a revised version of the bill, only for plans to unravel after a meeting between Republican senators and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. Blanche had been sent to Capitol Hill to defend the inclusion of a $1.776 billion Justice Department fund established as part of a settlement of a suit by President Trump against the IRS. Allies of the president who face charges related to the Jan. 6 Capitol attack have indicated they plan to submit claims against the fund, CBS News reported.

After the meeting, GOP senators said the Senate would adjourn without taking up the package. House leaders canceled their own plans to remain in Washington, and a meeting between Speaker Mike Johnson and the president was called off, according to CBS News.

Separately, the Senate parliamentarian had already ruled that a $1 billion allocation for Secret Service security funding violated reconciliation rules, adding another unresolved complication, CBS News reported.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota said after the breakdown that the chamber would pick up where it left off when senators returned from recess June 1, according to CBS News.

President Trump had set June 1 as the deadline for the bill's delivery to his desk. Republicans are now targeting July 4 for final passage, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, which cited House Speaker Johnson as signaling his chamber would be ready to vote as soon as July 2 if the Senate acts.

Democratic opposition has remained firm throughout. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said during debate in April that the measure offered funding for immigration enforcement with nothing to lower Americans' costs, according to Al Jazeera. Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, a member of the Senate Budget Committee, called the resolution an "expansion of spending for ICE and CBP without any reforms," according to Ballotpedia News.

Internal Republican divisions have also complicated the path. Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina said he would not vote for the bill over its potential impact on Medicaid, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition. Senators Collins and Murkowski have also expressed concern about cuts to medical care and food assistance in their states.

Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana argued during the April vote-a-rama that the reconciliation bill represented the "last train leaving the station" for major Republican legislation ahead of November's midterm elections, according to Federal News Network. He briefly held up the amendment process but ultimately allowed it to proceed.

With a 53-47 Republican majority in the Senate, near-unanimous GOP support is required for the bill to clear the chamber, according to NADO, a nonprofit that tracks federal legislation.

Sources cited:
- CBS News (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/senate-reconciliation-bill-white-house-ballroom-doj-anti-weaponization-fund/)
- Federal News Network (https://federalnewsnetwork.com/federal-newscast/2026/05/senate-committee-passes-reconciliation-bill-to-fund-ice-and-cbp/)
- National Low Income Housing Coalition (https://nlihc.org/resource/senate-republicans-pass-budget-resolution-laying-groundwork-reconciliation-bill-fund-ice)
- CBS News (House resolution vote) (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/house-vote-senate-approved-budget-resolution-ice-funding/)
- NPR (https://www.npr.org/2026/04/23/g-s1-118330/congress-dhs-spending-reconciliation)
- Ballotpedia News (https://news.ballotpedia.org/2026/05/07/senate-committees-release-72-billion-budget-reconciliation-spending-package/)
- Al Jazeera (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/4/23/us-senate-passes-ice-funding-resolution-after-vote-a-rama-whats-next)
- NADO (https://www.nado.org/budget-reconciliation/)