Senate Republicans have released the details of a roughly $72 billion reconciliation package that would fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection through the rest of President Trump’s term in office.
The bills, released late Monday by the Senate Judiciary and Homeland Security Committees, would fund the immigration agencies via a partisan process that aims to overcome a Democratic effort to block funding until significant reforms of the agencies’ tactics are put in place. They are part of a two-step plan that includes a separate bill passed last week that funded the Department of Homeland Security, except for the immigration enforcement operations, while ending the record-long departmental shutdown that began in February.
Enter the ballroom: Unexpectedly, the proposed reconciliation package includes $1 billion for the U.S. Secret Service to make “security adjustments and upgrades” on “the East Wing Modernization Project,” the site of Trump’s grand new ballroom. The text says the money can be used to cover “above-ground and below-ground security features” but cannot be used for “non-security elements.”
Trump has repeatedly pledged that no public funds would be used for his grand ballroom, with private donors picking up the estimated $400 million tab for the above-ground portions of the facility, which reportedly includes extensive security features below ground as well. Following an alleged assassination attempt at the Washington Hilton hotel in late April, Trump and his Republican allies have been pushing for the government to cover the cost of the entire ballroom complex on national security grounds.
A federal judge last month ordered the above-ground construction on the ballroom to stop until Congress provides authorization for the project, but work is proceeding at least until a federal appeals court hearing in the case next month.
The White House said Tuesday that it would welcome funding for the “long overdue” project. Democrats, on the other hand, said the funding proposal highlights how out of touch Trump and Republicans are at the moment. “Republicans are on a different planet than American families,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said. “Republicans looked at families drowning in bills and decided what they really needed was more raids and a Trump ballroom.”
Breaking down the billions: The GOP’s proposed funding includes:
- $30.7 billion for ICE personnel and operations;
- $7.5 billion to hire and train ICE agents;
- $19.1 billion for Customs and Border Patrol;
- $5 billion for DHS;
- $3.5 billion for Border Patrol agents;
- $3.5 billion for border security;
- $1.5 billion for the Justice Department;
- $1 billion for security upgrades at the White House.
No spending cuts that would offset the spending increases are included in the proposals.
Republicans say the funding will remove the threat of a shutdown at the immigration agencies for several years. “The Senate Judiciary Committee is taking action to help provide certainty for federal law enforcement and safer streets for American families,” Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, who leads the Senate Judiciary Committee, said in a statement. “We will work to ensure this critical funding gets signed into law without unnecessary delay.”
Some critics, though, have said the money is excessive while expressing concerns that the multi-year funding plan will make it easier for the immigration agencies to ignore oversight by Congress. “The money for ICE, CBP, and DHS at large has enormous flexibility, with far less accountability or oversight than typical annual appropriations for DHS funding has,” Bobby Kogan, the senior director of federal budget policy at the left-leaning Center for American Progress, said on social media.
What’s next: With Republicans racing to meet Trump’s June 1 deadline for getting the legislation to his desk, lawmakers have just a few weeks to work through any issues and hold votes when they return next week. Senate Democrats reportedly will try to strip the $1 billion in ballroom funding from the package.