DAILY CALLER NEWS FOUNDATION—Senate Republicans are plowing ahead with their budget proposal despite President Donald Trump throwing his weight behind the House version, arguing their plan will allow federal immigration authorities to execute the president’s border security agenda with full force.
As Trump moves to secure the border following his predecessor’s failure to stem the influx of illegal immigration, key administration officials are warning that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is in dire need of resources and staffing to execute the president’s deportation and border security efforts. Both House and Senate Republicans are committed to providing the administration with the necessary resources, but Senate Republicans believe their slimmed-down budget could get additional money to ICE quicker.
The Senate’s resolution could pass as early as Friday. Key Trump administration officials have told Senate Republicans that the border security and deportation funding that passage of the resolution will unlock is critical to the president’s agenda.
“President Trump’s actions are working. They are working so well that the Trump administration says it is running out of money for deportations,” Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso said on the Senate floor Thursday. “Border Czar Tom Homan told us that. Secretary Noem told us that. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth told us that. Attorney General Pam Bondi told us that. Senate Republicans will act quickly to get the administration the resources they requested and need.”
“[G]iven Trump’s significant actions to address illegal immigration, money is running out, and for the administration to keep enforcing the new policies and conducting operations across the country, those resources must be renewed,” Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought reportedly told GOP senators on Feb. 11.
Senate Republicans’ budget proposal would give the administration $175 billion in immigration enforcement funding in addition to increasing defense spending and making policy changes to energy production. They plan to take up the president’s tax priorities in a separate budget package later in the year.
Trump backed House Speaker Mike Johnson’s budget plan Wednesday to pass all of the president’s tax and spending priorities, including funding for ICE, in a one-bill approach. However, given concerns that Johnson may not have the votes to pass the lower chamber’s budget resolution, going all in on “one big beautiful bill” could be a flawed approach if the House fails to reach a quick agreement.
Johnson can afford to lose just one vote assuming all House Democrats vote “no” on advancing the resolution.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune has defended moving forward with the upper chamber’s proposal, characterizing it as a backup plan in the event the lower chamber fails to pass its budget resolution.
“We will continue to work together in a way that ultimately gets us across the finish line and helps put the president’s agenda in place,” Thune said during a Senate GOP leadership press conference Wednesday.
Vice President JD Vance reportedly gave Senate Republicans the green light to continue advancing the upper chamber’s budget resolution, which could receive a vote as early as Friday.
Border czar Tom Homan and Vought met with Senate Republicans on Feb. 11 and urged the upper chamber to quickly approve immigration enforcement and border security funding.
“Tom Holman said, ‘I am begging you for money’. Russ Vought said that ‘we’re running out of money for ICE. We can’t rob other accounts any longer,’” Republican South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, Senate Budget Committee chairman, said during a leadership press conference on Feb. 11. “To the American people, if you’d like to finish the wall, we need more money to do it. If you want a more modern border, we need money to do it. If you believe that President Trump is right to track down and deport criminal aliens and clean up the mess that’s been created over the last four years, we need more ICE agents.”
“They gave us a summary of what $175 billion would do,” Graham continued. “It would be enough money for four years to implement President Trump’s border agenda, immigration agenda.”
Despite the Senate’s version giving the president early wins on his immigration agenda and spurring energy production—two issues central to his campaign—Johnson has called it dead on arrival in the House.
House GOP leaders argue Senate Republicans should be following their lead.
“President Trump asked for “One, BIG Beautiful Bill” to pass the FULL America First agenda and that’s exactly what the House Budget Committee delivered,” House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Republicans in both chambers should follow Trump’s lead—endorse it, unlock the most consequential legislation in modern history, and Make America Great Again!”
The White House and Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
This article was originally published at www.dailysignal.com
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