The vote was 52-47 in favor of funding for ICE and Border Patrol, with only one Republican breaking ranks – Lisa Murkowski from Alaska.
This measure will head to the U. S. House next week, where it is expected to pass by a similar narrow margin along party lines.
The Senate’s decision followed a lengthy 18-hour debate that included votes on amendments from Democrats who sought to link federal funding prohibiting money going to the Trump slush fund with this funding bill.
One amendment came from Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, who lost in a GOP primary last month after clashing with Donald Trump. It aimed to redirect settlement payments to Capitol Police officers injured during the January 6, 2021 attack on the U. S. Capitol by Trump supporters.
“This would have been done several hours ago if we weren’t having to deal with some of the issues around the fund,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S. D., just before midnight Thursday – still hours before Friday’s 5 a. m. vote that moved forward the immigration enforcement funding.
Thune has criticized the slush fund but was advocating for a straightforward immigration enforcement funding bill – meaning without any riders related to that fund – to send over to the U. S. House.
He convinced his caucus based on an idea suggested by acting attorney general Todd Blanche that the fund is “inoperable.” In response, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N. Y., remarked that this essentially leaves taxpayers depending on “nothing more than a promise from Donald Trump’s personal fixer. That is not accountability. That is a permission slip.”
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