Senate Republicans advance Trump’s $70B immigration package amid rift

Senate Republicans managed to form a united front to advance President Donald Trump’s nearly $70 billion immigration enforcement package, but differences over the president’s agenda emerged after a long day of voting.

The passage of the budget reconciliation package to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol for the next three and a half years closes a long and exhausting chapter in the Senate that began during the longest shutdown in history.

That was a point Senate Republicans tried to backtrack on throughout the day, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer reiterated that the GOP and Democrats were trying to get their hands on it after refusing to fund immigration operations without a raft of reforms.

DOZENS GOP REBELS FAILED TO PERMANENTLY KILL TRUMP’S CONTESTIBLE $2 BILLION FUND

“Democrats didn’t concede anything and eventually walked out all together, probably because they thought it would serve them better to have an issue in November,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D. he said.

But that day and the weeks before were dominated by a growing dispute between Senate Republicans and the Trump administration that threatened to blow up the process entirely.

The first was to include $1 billion in funding for security upgrades to Trump’s ballroom, but that was later rescinded.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) later announced the launch of a nearly $2 billion “counterproliferation” fund to allow people who feel they are being targeted by the government to make claims on taxpayer money.

GOP advances ice funding package after forcing withdrawal of TRUMP’S CONTROVERSIAL $2 billion fund

Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy questions National Institutes of Health Director Jayanta Bhattacharya during a hearing at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on February 3, 2026. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Some Senate Republicans were concerned that rioters convicted of attacking police might have access to the money on Jan. 6, 2021.

Schumer and Democrats addressed this open wound and spent much of the marathon trying to put a permanent end to the fund-raising “vote-a-rama” series of votes, despite promises from Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche that the administration would no longer pursue it.

“Do we believe that Donald Trump, who lies to us every day, can resist sticking his sticky fingers into a slush fund when it would benefit himself and his family? No way, no way,” Schumer said.

GOP UTILIZES ICE FUND PACKAGE TO ENSURE TRUMP’S CONTESTIBLE $2 BILLION FUND ‘NEVER EXISTS’

Many of the changes put forward by Democrats put Republicans in tough bids for re-election; Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, Jon Husted, R-Ohio, and Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, have taken politically challenging positions.

Republicans also tried to kill him, causing tensions to rise on the Senate floor.

“It’s not that tense,” said Sen. John Kennedy, R-La. “I mean, I’ve seen worse. Nobody’s stabbed anyone yet.”

Still, Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La. and others wanted to ensure that GOP attempts to end the fund also received votes, the process came to a near halt as the fund at the start of the marathon voting series.

“I just wanted to optimize the chances of success,” Cassidy said of the delay.

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After all, a dozen Republicans in Sen. Although Thom Tillis voted for the RN.C.’s amendment and X voted in Cassidy’s favor, all attempts to block future proposals to revive the fund failed.

The ballroom also came into the spotlight again when six Republicans joined Senate Democrats to prevent construction of the massive structure from moving forward without congressional approval.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., then attempted to include the Save America Act in the reconciliation package; this initiative met with resistance from Republicans and ultimately failed.

The package now heads to the House of Representatives, where Republicans are expected to approve it by the end of the week.