Senate Adopts $70 Billion Budget Resolution to Fund ICE and Border Patrol via Reconciliation, 50-48

In a predawn vote-a-rama on April 23, 2026, the U.S. Senate adopted a budget resolution 50-48 authorizing up to $70 billion in new funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and parts of Customs and Border Protection through the end of President Trump's term. Republicans used the budget reconciliation process — which requires only a simple majority instead of the usual 60-vote filibuster threshold — after Senate Democrats blocked conventional DHS appropriations since mid-February 2026 over demands for major immigration enforcement reforms. The shutdown was triggered by the January 2026 fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis by federal agents: Renée Good (killed January 7) and Alex Pretti (killed January 24). Democrats demanded that ICE and Border Patrol be subject to the same use-of-force rules as local police departments, including a requirement for judicial warrants before entering private homes. Only two Republicans broke ranks: Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), who argued the agencies still had $100 billion in unobligated funding from last year's One Big Beautiful Bill Act, and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK). Senate Majority Leader John Thune said: 'We have a multistep process ahead of us, but at the end Republicans will have helped ensure that America's borders are secure.' Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer countered that Republicans were 'pumping hundreds of billions of dollars into ICE and Border Patrol without any common-sense restraints or reforms.' The resolution now heads to the House; President Trump set a June 1 deadline for final passage. The reconciliation process will allow committees to draft actual spending legislation once both chambers adopt the blueprint.