There's been a fair amount of drama over the past several days surrounding the votes in Congress to approve the $1.2 Trillion spending package in order to avert a government shutdown. After the House voted to approve it late Thursday, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) filed a motion to vacate the Speaker's chair. Then, the Senate missed the midnight deadline on Friday, but ultimately passed the bill in the wee hours of Saturday morning. 

READ MORE: 

Senate Passes $1.2 Trillion Budget Package, Blocks Inclusion of Laken Riley Act

House Passes $1.2 Trillion Spending Package to Avert Shutdown

Marjorie Taylor Greene Files Motion to Vacate Against Speaker Mike Johnson

As Managing Editor Jennifer Van Laar noted regarding the Senate's late-night vote, the upper chamber voted down an amendment to the bill that would have prevented illegal immigrants from gaining citizenship or legal status if they've ever committed crimes such as burglary, theft, or shoplifting. 

Senators did, however, vote to protect illegal immigrants who are violent criminals.

Senate votes 51-47 to block inclusion of Laken Riley Act in minibus spending bill

— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) March 23, 2024

But that wasn't the only amendment regarding illegal immigration that got shot down. Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN) introduced an amendment that would have prevented taxpayer funds: 

from being used to secretly fly illegal aliens from other nations directly into states across the country. Recent reporting revealed that, in 2023, the Biden Administration flew as many as 320,000 illegal aliens into the U.S. to deliberately resettle them in American communities while artificially reducing the record-breaking number of border crossings happening under its watch.

In presenting the amendment, Hagerty stated: 

In order to consider my very simple and reasonable amendment, it is vital that the Senate move the Democrat Leader’s blocking amendment out of the way—in order to move forward with my amendment.

Let me cut through the procedural language here—this is a vote on a very simple question.  Do you support Americans’ tax dollars being used to fly illegal aliens into the United States from places like Venezuela and Haiti—to be resettled in towns and cities near you?  If so, then vote against me.  Vote ‘no’ to preserve the practice of using taxpayer dollars to charter planes and import thousands of illegal aliens into your states.

Make no mistake: President Biden has been secretly flying hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens from foreign countries into blue-city airports.  Reportedly 320,000 in 2023 alone.

Americans are shocked this is happening, and a ‘yes’ vote will stop it.  A ‘no’ vote means you are voting to preserve Biden’s egregious scheme to import hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens each year through airports across America.

All Senate Democrats voted against Hagerty's proposed amendment, a move that he referred to as "indefensible." 

Tonight every single Senate Democrat voted against my amendment that would stop Biden Admin from using taxpayer dollars to charter flights for hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens from their countries directly to American towns to be resettled.

Indefensible. pic.twitter.com/ofTnhSPnY8

— Senator Bill Hagerty (@SenatorHagerty) March 23, 2024

Following its passage in the Senate, President Joe Biden signed the bill on Saturday, calling it "good news for the American people." YMMV.