Rand Paul slams Democrats for pushing GOP to reconciliation bill: ‘Y’all gave up’
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) criticized Senate Democrats on Tuesday for pushing Republicans into a reconciliation process to fund immigration agencies within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
“The process that Democrats are pushing us through is a flawed process,” Paul, chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said in his opening statement on the $72 billion bill.
“One consequence of using this process is that we cannot incorporate policy changes, even widely supported reforms passed by the President earlier this year to address the real problems that emerged,” he continued, adding that Democrats “have no one to blame but themselves.”
This reconciliation process allows Senate Republicans to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol through 2029 with a simple majority, bypassing the 60-vote threshold needed to overcome a filibuster.
Democrats have repeatedly weaved their way through DHS funding bills over demands to rein in agents who helped carry out President Trump’s nationwide crackdown on immigrants, paving the way for a record-long shutdown that ended May 1.
During Tuesday’s nearly three-hour markup, Senate Democrats introduced dozens of amendments that echoed many of the reforms they have been seeking for months, including requiring ICE agents to clearly identify themselves during enforcement operations, expanding judicial warrant requirements and banning DHS officers from entering houses of worship.
Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), the committee’s ranking member, said he was “disappointed” some of these reforms were not included in the bill, despite “real concern” from members of both parties at an oversight hearing in February.
“We’re essentially doing this whole exercise of irresponsible and hyper-partisan spending because the Republican majority doesn’t want to pass common-sense reforms that would rein in ICE and hold agencies accountable,” Peters said.
Each of the Democrat-led amendments were tabled on an 8-7 vote along party lines. Sens. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) and Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) voted by proxy.
Paul urged his GOP colleagues to oppose each change, saying they were advised by the budget committee not to comply with them. Senate rules against “foreign” policy provisions in compromise bills.
“First of all, I support a lot of reform and wish we could continue down the bipartisan path to reform, but rules are rules,” Paul said. “You can’t put politics in appropriations bills; you can’t put politics in a reconciliation bill.”
“So as much as I wanted to be in favor of reform, you all gave in. You gave in and said, ‘We are not going to fund ICE.’ Once you all made that decision, the negotiations ended and all hope for reform ended.”
While some Democrats objected, Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) argued that the Byrd Rule did not apply in this case. Peters also accused his Republican counterparts of “hiding behind procedural excuses.”
“I believe they think this insulates them, and I think they can fool the American people by playing some kind of procedural game,” he said, criticizing his Republican colleagues for “racing to meet the president’s arbitrary June 1 deadline.”
GOP lawmakers are working to fine-tune the bill’s language after Senate Rep. Elizabeth MacDonough ruled last week that many elements of the package did not comply with the Byrd Rule and could not be included in the bill.
Although not a provision in the compromise bill, Democratic lawmakers seized on the increase as an opportunity to criticize the Trump administration’s plan to establish a $1.176 billion taxpayer-funded compensation fund for people who claim the federal government wronged them.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) introduced an amendment that would create a fund of the same amount for DHS victims, including “U.S. citizens injured or killed by any DHS law enforcement officer or other immigration official,” among others.
“Injuries and deaths cry out for justice,” he said. “Instead of illegally allocating $1.8 billion to a slush fund, I urge this committee to take legal action to deal with people who, through no fault of their own, are suffering at the hands of their own government and are being attacked by ICE or other agents of the government.”
Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Head to The Hill for the latest news, weather, sports and streaming video.
