Congress Allocates an Additional $70 Billion to the Department of Homeland Security
Congress has narrowly approved funding for President Trump’s mass deportation initiative, allocating $70 billion to the Department of Homeland Security over the next three years. The House voted 214 to 212 in favor of the reconciliation bill on Tuesday, following a Senate vote of 52-47 last Friday. The decision was largely split along party lines, with Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) being the sole Republican senator to oppose it. Initially, Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI) voted against the bill, which would have led to its failure, but he later changed his vote after discussions with House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) and Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R-OK). No Democrats supported the funding, which was passed through a budget reconciliation process to bypass a Democratic filibuster.
Democrats attempted to leverage the legislation to block Trump’s proposed $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund,” intended to compensate individuals claiming victimization by the federal government. Critics argue this fund serves as a slush fund for Trump’s allies. Although the Department of Justice announced it would halt work on the fund after a federal judge in Virginia temporarily blocked payouts, Trump has continued to show interest in it. Democrats also sought to push for reforms within ICE and Customs and Border Protection following the tragic deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, but these reforms did not make it into the final bill.
In a speech on the House floor before the vote, Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA) criticized Republicans for using the budget reconciliation process to sidestep negotiations with Democrats, highlighting the unpopularity of ICE among the American public. “At its core, this Republican reconciliation budget bill is a statement about priorities, and the priorities represented in this budget bill could not be more out of step with the needs and values of the American people,” Scanlon stated.
She pointed out that DHS has yet to utilize $100 billion of the nearly $200 billion allocated under Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Scanlon also noted that Trump has expanded ICE’s operations, increasingly targeting legal immigrants and weaponizing DHS against its critics. She warned that the bill would “supercharge” Trump’s abuses.
Following the House markup last Friday, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), the ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee, remarked that the bill not only lacks adequate reforms but also cuts funding for cybersecurity and TSA, whose employees faced weeks without pay during the DHS shutdown.
The funding bill arrives at a time when ICE is deeply unpopular, with a recent poll indicating that only 33 percent of voters approve of the agency’s performance. Additionally, border czar Tom Homan has threatened to deploy a significant number of ICE agents to New York City if the state government enacts a bill limiting cooperation with DHS. In an interview with Fox News, Homan stated he would send “more ICE agents than you’ve ever seen” to the city.
“Providing a quarter trillion dollars to an administration promising that the public ‘ain’t seen shit yet’ when it comes to mass deportation is a historic mistake,” said Todd Schulte, president of the immigration reform group FWD.us. “Supercharging the funding for these already out of control systems will come with terrible human consequences and continue to be met with increasing opposition from voters.”
Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that Rep. Tim Walberg voted against the funding bill. He initially opposed it but later changed his vote to support it.
Update: This story has been revised to include comments from FWD.us president Todd Schulte.
