Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) speaks to members of the media as the Trump Cabinet briefs members of Congress on Iran at the U.S. Capitol on March 3, 2026 in Washington, DC.
Anna Moneymaker | Getty Images
Senate Republicans on Tuesday released a budget resolution that fully funds the two controversial immigration enforcement agencies at the center of the Department of Homeland Security shutdown that will last until the end of President Donald Trump’s term.
The resolution aims to fund two branches of DHS (Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection) without relying on votes from Democratic senators.
Democratic opposition to funding for ICE and CBP first led to a partial shutdown of DHS, which has continued ever since.
The Senate could hold a preliminary vote on the bill as early as Tuesday afternoon. The resolution directs the Senate Homeland Security, Governmental Affairs, and Judiciary committees to draft a final immigration enforcement bill, setting a cap for each committee at $70 billion.
President Trump has set a June 1 deadline to pass final legislation funding the two departments.
“Republicans are doing something urgently that their Democratic colleagues are trying to stop them from doing. It’s simple: Fully fund Border Patrol and ICE at a time of great threat to America,” Senate Budget Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R.S.C.) said in a statement.
“With this budget resolution, we are advancing, not rolling back, sensible immigration policies that secure our borders,” Graham said.
Democrats immediately vowed to oppose the bill.
“Instead of literally doing nothing to reduce costs, Republicans are spending their time cutting huge blank checks to ICE and Border Patrol without any reforms or even basic guardrails,” Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said in a statement.
Democrats rejected funding for parts of ICE and CBP after federal agents killed two Americans in Minneapolis in January as part of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
Funding for DHS expired in February. Since then, lawmakers have struggled to reach a funding agreement as Democrats continue to push for changes to federal immigration practices.
“After the murders of Renee Good and Alex Preti, people across the country called for ICE to be reined in,” Murray said.
“But instead of working with Democrats to pass real reform, Republicans have rejected the most basic accountability measures and are now rushing to give billions of dollars more to ICE,” she said.
The Senate unanimously passed a package in late March that would fund all of DHS except ICE and Border Patrol, with plans to then pursue a budget reconciliation package that would fund those two departments. Budget reconciliation, which is used to pass spending-related issues, requires a simple 50-vote majority in the Senate, although 60 votes are typically needed to overcome a filibuster.
House Republicans hastily changed that agreement and instead passed a stopgap measure extending funding for the entire DHS through May 22nd.
The resolution was then moved to the Senate, but it did not receive enough votes to pass and the shutdown was extended.
