Finally: Senate Republicans Cross the Rubicon, Voting to Consider ICE, CBP Reconciliation Bill

They have crossed the Rubicon, everyone.

We can finally report that the Republican conference in the U.S. Senate has managed to do their jobs, voting on Wednesday afternoon on a party line vote to advance the reconciliation bill to fund CPB (Customs and Border Protection) and ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) to the upper chamber floor.

53-46: Senate along party lines votes to begin debate on the$70B GOP reconciliation bill to fund ICE & CPB until 2029. Bennet (D-CO) missed the vote. pic.twitter.com/CbsrBuqpYi
— Craig Caplan (@CraigCaplan) June 3, 2026

As CPAN's Hill producer Craig Caplan noted, the tally was 53-46; one Dem - Sen. Michael Bennet (CO) - was absent.

The voting victory was spurred by the administration officially pulling the plug on the DOJ's Anti-Weaponization Fund, as my colleague Jennifer Oliver O'Connell wrote Tuesday. This came on the heels of a federal judge recently pausing the implementation of the fund, drawn from the president's previous lawsuit against alleged lawfare on him and his family by the Biden IRS.

Trump DOJ Pulls Plug on $1.8 Billion ‘Anti-Weaponization’ Fund

Acting AG Todd Blanche also made comments previously in Congressional testimony that it was all but dead. So what about that fund and the current Congressional funding package? Leader John Thune (R-NE) and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) shared their thoughts:

First, Thune "acknowledged that there may be some Republicans who weren’t satisfied with Blanche’s testimony, and reiterated that the main goal was to "get the base bill across the finish line."

He added that "Hopefully, all of our members who have amendment ideas will, as they think through that, and they have the opportunities to have conversations… about their ideas, keep in mind we need to keep the bill together and make sure we’ve got 50 votes for it."

And what about the now rather anti-Trump Tillis?

...[I]f there's no language that makes its way into the package that addresses the fund, he said, "It's going to be hard for me to vote yes."
"I mean, I think we got to know this is a huge political liability," Tillis told reporters. "I said it was stupid on stilts a week or two ago."

Here's part of what is in the revised package:

A revised version of one part of the package released Wednesday also dropped language that would have provided $1 billion in security funding for the Secret Service, including for President Trump's East Wing renovation, where he plans to build a massive ballroom. That funding faced intense scrutiny from a handful of Republicans, prompting senators to abandon it.
Last month, Republicans on the Senate Judiciary and Homeland Security committees unveiled the initial text of the $72 billion package, which funds immigration agencies through fiscal year 2029.

One of the amendments in the bill is sponsored by the Conservative former state attorney general, Sen. Eric Schmitt (MO) - his provision on Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents getting the green light to take criminal aliens into custody when state authorities spring them from prison - which he celebrated on his X account

Success—It's been a long road, but the fight was worth it. The provision I authored to ensure ICE can arrest and deport criminal illegal aliens who are released from jails and prisons in jurisdictions that violate federal immigration law is in the reconciliation text.

In 2025,… https://t.co/DraONFoG28
— Senator Eric Schmitt (@SenEricSchmitt) June 3, 2026

He wrote:

Success—It's been a long road, but the fight was worth it. The provision I authored to ensure ICE can arrest and deport criminal illegal aliens who are released from jails and prisons in jurisdictions that violate federal immigration law is in the reconciliation text.
In 2025, nearly 18,000 aliens were released from jails instead of transferred to ICE.
That is insane. They were already in jail. ICE had already identified them. Politicians let them walk back into American communities.
This is about commonsense immigration enforcement in America. Unlawful aliens. Already in custody. Released instead of transferred to ICE.
There is no serious defense for that.

Indeed, there is not.

Now, what?

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said his caucus will keep fighting it duringThursday's vote-a-rama:

Senate Republicans advance reconciliation bill funding immigration enforcement, 53-46. No GOP nos

Vote-a-rama will be tomorrow morning. Schumer spox: "Tomorrow, we’ll keep forcing Republicans to answer for their priorities: Trump’s corrupt slush fund, his rogue police force,…
— Burgess Everett (@burgessev) June 3, 2026

Senate Republicans advance reconciliation bill funding immigration enforcement, 53-46. No GOP nos
Vote-a-rama will be tomorrow morning. Schumer spox: "Tomorrow, we’ll keep forcing Republicans to answer for their priorities: Trump’s corrupt slush fund, his rogue police force, and his endless corruption"

And the House appears to be expecting to take it up in a few days, per Punchbowl News:

NEW — JOHNSON says the plan is to vote on reconciliation Friday morning in the House.
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) June 3, 2026

And where does Pres. Trump stand on the Fund? He reportedly said, "Ask the lawyers."

Less than an hour after Senate Republicans voted to advance reconciliation bill (with testimony from Blanche that the fund was dead), Trump responds to a Q on whether the fund was dead or on hold: “I’d have to ask the lawyers. I don’t know.”
— Seung Min Kim (@seungminkim) June 3, 2026

Wise answer. As usual on these sorts of stories, RedState will keep you posted on updates.

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