Senate Panel Advances Part of $72 Billion Immigration Bill (2)

Senate Republicans advanced one half of their partisan bill giving $72 billion to President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement agenda on Tuesday.

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee advanced its title of the bill by a party-line vote of 8-5, moving it toward a floor vote later in the week.

The updated version of the bill reflects a series of changes to fix issues Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough flagged last week as part of the budget reconciliation process, which Republicans are using to sidestep the Senate’s usual 60-vote threshold and advance the funding without Democratic support.

The legislation now gives $9.55 billion for Border Patrol personnel, half the amount Republicans originally proposed to fund broader Customs and Border Protection. Republicans plan to move that missing CBP money to the Judiciary Committee’s portion of the legislation to accommodate MacDonough’s guidance, according to two Senate aides familiar with the drafting.

The latest version also carves out $108.5 million for child exploitation investigations and removes the ability to spend the new CBP funding on screening of people crossing the border, including initial screenings of unaccompanied undocumented children. It also removes the ability of Homeland Secretary Markwayne Mullin to use new funding for his office to implement last year’s tax-and-spending law.

Republicans are aiming to clear the bill by the end of the week to get the measure to Trump’s desk by his June 1 deadline. They’re still negotiating on funds to secure the White House ballroom, which the Senate rulekeeper flagged in their original text as ineligible for the expedited, party-line procedure they’re using for the bill.

The Senate Budget Committee will meet tomorrow morning to send the homeland panel’s legislation to the floor, where it will be combined with the Judiciary Committee’s portion, according to two Senate Republican aides.

“This is not a mega spending bill dropped in our laps in the middle of the night,” Chairman Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said. “This funds the ongoing operations of the Border Patrol and Homeland Security.”

Republicans opted to fund the Department of Homeland Security’s immigration enforcement agencies using budget reconciliation after hitting an impasse on full-year funding with Democrats, who demanded changes in enforcement conduct.

During the markup, Democrats forced a flurry of votes on amendments that included changes to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and addressed other issues such as the cost of living. The panel’s ranking member, Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), said Republicans were refusing to “pass commonsense reforms that would rein in ICE and hold agencies accountable.”