JUNE 5, 2026
Senate passes $70 billion immigration enforcement funding bill, rejecting amendments to permanently ban Trump's DOJ settlement fund
The U.S. Senate passed a roughly $70 billion bill to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol for three years on a 52-47 vote just before 5 a.m. Friday. The bill advanced after senators defeated multiple amendments from both parties that would have permanently prohibited a Department of Justice "anti-weaponization" settlement fund tied to a Trump family IRS lawsuit. Senate Majority Leader John Thune pushed to keep the bill focused on immigration enforcement to preserve its procedural path through reconciliation.
The Senate passed the $70 billion ICE and Border Patrol funding package in an early-morning vote on Friday, June 5, following a nearly full day of debate and failed amendment votes. Republicans used a budget reconciliation procedure to advance the bill without Democratic support, bypassing the 60-vote filibuster threshold.
At the center of the overnight negotiations was the nearly $2 billion DOJ "anti-weaponization" fund, established as part of a settlement resolving Trump's lawsuit against the IRS over the leak of his tax returns. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche had said earlier in the week that the fund would not go forward, but senators from both parties sought to codify that commitment in law. Trump, when asked by reporters Wednesday whether the settlement was dead or on hold, said "it's very important" and "I don't know," adding, "I'd have to ask the lawyers."
Republicans defeated a Democratic amendment to ban the fund outright, holding it open for several hours while three GOP senators — including Louisiana's Bill Cassidy and two up-for-reelection members, Jon Husted of Ohio and Dan Sullivan of Alaska — deliberated. Cassidy ultimately voted against the Democratic measure. The Senate then rejected a separate amendment by Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina that would have redirected fund money to a DOJ anti-fraud account; more than 10 Republicans supported it but most Democrats voted against it, guaranteeing its defeat. Cassidy's own amendment, which would have redirected fund payments to law enforcement officers injured in the January 6, 2021 Capitol attack, was also defeated.