Senate GOP Blocks Dem Effort To Make Immigration Enforcement Package About Anything Other Than Border Security

Senate Republicans blocked nearly 30 amendments from Democrats intended to derail the upper chamber’s budget blueprint to fund President Donald Trump’s border security agenda during an overnight session that concluded early Friday morning.

The Senate took the first step in unlocking more than $340 billion in spending to fund the president’s border security and deportation efforts, which will allow the administration’s illegal immigration crackdown to be executed at full force. Though Senate Democrats attempted to put their Republican colleagues on the spot by holding votes on dozens of amendments intended to exact political pain, Democrats had little to say about the actual purpose of the budget resolution: funding the president’s border security agenda. (RELATED: Tim Walz Could End Up Facing Off Against An Even More Radical Version Of Himself In Senate Race)

The Senate ultimately approved the border security-focused budget resolution in vote of 52 to 48 shortly before 5 a.m. after nearly a ten-hour slog. Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul opposed the resolution, citing concerns that the forthcoming budget bill would fail to completely offset the spending increases unlocked with passage of the budget resolution.

No Senate Democrat voted to advance the budget resolution that would unlock money to fund the president’s illegal immigration crackdown efforts. Senate Republicans’ budget proposal provides instructions to fund $175 billion in immigration enforcement money in addition to an increase in defense spending and policy changes to spur energy production in a forthcoming budget bill.

“If you listen to Senate Democrats, it’s abundantly clear that they do not support these goals,” Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso said on the Senate floor Thursday. “Democrats are opposed to securing our border, rebuilding our military, and unleashing American energy.

Senate Republicans are focused on securing the border, rebuilding our defense, and unleashing American energy.

Senate Democrats are focused on getting in the way.

— Leader John Thune (@LeaderJohnThune) February 21, 2025

The budget resolution stage of the reconciliation process allows any senator to propose an unlimited number of budget-related amendments that are voted on in a marathon process known as a “vote-a-rama.” The unique rules of the reconciliation process allowed Senate Democrats to delay passage of the budget resolution until they lost steam voting on amendments. Every Democrat-sponsored amendment failed to be adopted.

Senate Democrats’ opposition to funding border security and defense spending comes as their approval rating plummets to an all-time-low. Just two in ten Americans approve of congressional Democrats’ job performance, according to Quinnipiac polling released Wednesday.

Democrats debated the border security package by harping on taxes, appearing to view attacking Senate Republicans for allegedly giving tax cuts to billionaires as a political lifeline to a party widely viewed as struggling to craft a strategy back to electoral success.

“Nothing criticizes the broken core of Republicans’ agenda better than their tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor prior to introducing an amendment to stop a budget bill from providing a tax cut to individuals earning more than $1 billion per year.

Republicans countered that the budget bill was not a tax-focused bill, but a border security-focused bill. Senate Republicans plan to take up the president’s tax priorities in a separate budget package later in the year.

Democrats also alleged that Senate Republicans were seeking to cut popular entitlement programs despite the budget resolution not providing instructions to do so, and widespread opposition in the Republican conference to achieve significant spending reform by cutting into entitlements.

Trump has also repeatedly said he would not support a budget package that cuts Medicare or Medicaid — barring instances of waste, fraud and abuse.

“The Democrats know very well that this targeted budget blueprint does not cut Medicaid or Medicare,” Senate Finance Committee Mike Crapo of Idaho said on the Senate floor Thursday evening. 

“The claims we’ve heard continuously tonight, to me, seem just to be the politics of fear in the face of trying to deal with our nation’s critical issues,” Crapo said later in the evening.

Republican Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo, Senate Finance Committee Chairman, led Senate Republicans in refuting allegations from their Democratic counterparts about billionaire tax cuts and entitlement spending cuts. (Photo by Pete Marovich-Pool/Getty Images)

Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Josh Hawley of Missouri occasionally voted for Democrat-backed amendments seeking to forestall hypothetical cuts to entitlement programs in a forthcoming budget bill.

Collins, the most moderate member of the Senate Republican conference, could face a competitive reelection in a state former Vice President Kamala Harris won. Hawley appeared to be concerned about how hypothetical cuts to entitlement programs could impact working class Americans throughout the night.

Despite staying up until the early morning hours to advance a budget resolution, the Senate’s version may face immediate roadblocks if the House refuses to consider the upper chamber’s slimmed-down budget approach.

Speaker Mike Johnson has said the Senate’s budget proposal is dead on arrival in his chamber. House Republicans could pass a competing budget resolution as early as next week incorporating all of the president’s tax and spending priorities into “one, big beautiful bill.”

Though Trump threw his weight behind the House version, the president appeared to give Senate Republicans the green light to continue advancing their own budget plans Thursday prior to the vote-a-rama.

“Thank you to Majority Leader John Thune, and the Republican Senate, for working so hard on funding the Trump Border Agenda,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Your work on funding this effort is greatly appreciated!”

Hawley told reporters Trump still wants one comprehensive bill Thursday.

Democratic Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman seen waiting at an elevator during the vote-a-rama session. He voted “no” on advancing the budget resolution. (Photo by Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)

As Trump moves to stem the influx of illegal migrants into the United States — lowering border encounter numbers to levels not seen since the 1960s — key administration officials are begging Congress to provide additional funding to go full throttle on the president’s immigration crackdown.

Senate Republican leadership is adamant that their budget plan is the right vehicle to do just that.

“After four years of high prices and open borders, Americans deserve a path to safety and prosperity,” Barrasso said Thursday. “Starting with the Republican budget, they will finally get it.”

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