Senate passes $70B ICE funding bill after all-night vote-a-rama

At least nine Republican senators issued statements hailing the Secure America Act's passage, making it the day's dominant story by volume. Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., drew the sharpest partisan line: "Every single Senate Democrat voted against this important bill. For months they blocked funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement as well as Border Patrol. Democrats showed the nation that they are the party of open borders, protecting illegal immigrant criminals, and defunding the police."

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, detailed the bill's topline numbers — "$72 billion to fully fund U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP) through the end of President Trump's term; $38 billion for ICE to pay and hire agents, maintain facilities, invest in new technology, and coordinate with local law enforcement; and $26 billion for CBP to invest in more agents, field operations officers, support personnel, and more" — and blamed Democrats for the funding lapse.

Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., noted the overnight duration: "For 19 hours, I joined my Senate Republican colleagues to vote down amendment after amendment from Democrats who wanted to defund federal immigration enforcement entirely." Sen. Jim Justice, R-W.Va., offered the bill's most straightforward framing: "If your house doesn't have a secure front door, you don't really have a house."

Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., highlighted a provision he authored giving ICE $350 million specifically to arrest criminal aliens released from custody in sanctuary cities, saying "In 2025 alone, sanctuary cities and states released nearly 18,000 aliens from custody instead of transferring them to ICE." Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., separately drew attention to a $108.5 million provision to hire 200 new child exploitation investigators at DHS, calling it "the biggest surge against child trafficking ever by the federal government."

Democratic statements against the Secure America Act ran in a tight cluster through the morning, with senators converging on a shared cost-of-living frame: Republicans were spending $70 billion on immigration enforcement while blocking Democratic amendments aimed at health care, housing, and energy costs.

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., filed two releases — one on her failed amendment to redirect $31 billion in ICE funding to the COPS Hiring Program for local police, and one on her final vote. "Republicans already gave ICE and Border Patrol $150 billion. They don't need another $70 billion with no accountability to continue to terrorize families and go after American citizens and Dreamers," she said. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee, called the bill "insanity to send $70 billion of Americans' hard-earned money to two rogue agencies that are already sitting on a $100 billion treasure chest of unspent funds."

Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, D-Md., filed eight amendments spanning drug price negotiation, energy assistance, CDC and NIH staffing restoration, protection of health care facilities from ICE enforcement, and water utility assistance. She framed her vote this way: "Republicans have made it all too clear that their loyalty to protecting this President outweighs their loyalty to the American people."

Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, both D-Va., issued a joint statement: "At a time when millions of Americans are struggling to deal with rising costs generated by Donald Trump's disastrous Iran war and his chaotic tariff taxes, what do Republican Senators do? They pass a bill giving $70 billion to immigration agencies sitting on $100 billion in unspent funds from last year." Sen. Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., added a pointed local charge: "President Trump and Stephen Miller's out-of-control ICE and CBP have killed two American citizens, and now Republicans are rewarding them with billions more while struggling families get left behind."

Two Democrats forced separate amendment votes targeting President Trump's $1.8 billion 'anti-weaponization' fund, each falling short but generating distinct vote tallies.

Sen. Coons described his amendment in floor remarks: "My amendment is simple. It's one sentence. The Department of Justice may not use taxpayer funds to make settlement payments to any individual convicted of assaulting law enforcement officers at or around the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021." Republicans blocked it 54-45. Coons noted that acting Attorney General Todd Blanche had refused to rule out payments to January 6 rioters when questioned before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee.

Sen. Schiff forced the final amendment vote of the vote-a-rama with his Drain the Slush Fund Act, which would have barred any settlement payments arising from lawsuits filed by a sitting president or vice president. "Does anyone here believe this slush fund is a good idea? If there's anyone here who believes it's a good idea, say so," Schiff said on the floor. The amendment failed 51-48, but five Republicans — Cassidy, Collins, Tillis, Murkowski, and Sullivan — crossed over to support it.

Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., forced a vote on an amendment that would have required public release of data on Medicaid coverage loss. Republicans blocked it 52-46 on a party-line vote.

"My friends on the other side of the aisle continue to falsely argue that their last reconciliation bill did not cut Medicaid, but now nearly one year after this monstrosity passed… millions of Americans, including children, are losing health insurance as they ram through another partisan bill that does nothing to make health care more affordable," Warnock said on the Senate floor. The release cites recent reporting that approximately 1.75 million fewer children were enrolled in Medicaid in January 2026 compared to the prior year. Warnock framed his amendment narrowly: "Since Republicans refused to reverse these harmful cuts, my amendment simply asks for transparency. That's it… If my colleagues have nothing to hide, they should have no problem with transparency to reveal the scale of coverage loss."

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., sent letters Friday to Social Security Administration Commissioner Frank Bisignano and three former Department of Government Efficiency staffers pressing them on a whistleblower account describing Trump administration plans to mark 2.7 million people as dead in Social Security databases as part of immigration enforcement.

The release describes the inquiry as seeking answers from former DOGE personnel "about efforts to mark as dead millions of individuals in Social Security records as part of the Trump immigration enforcement agenda." Warren also issued a separate video release flagging a 4 a.m. Senate vote: "At 4am, Senate Republicans gave the greenlight for the IRS to drop ALL investigations into Trump and his family. That means if Trump is evading taxes, we'll never know. I have a bill to make this illegal. And I won't stop fighting to get it done."

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., broke with much of his conference Friday, voting against a FISA extension he said lacked sufficient reforms to protect Fourth Amendment rights. "I've said it before and I'll say it again: any extension of FISA needs significant reforms to protect Americans. I've been surveilled by the government multiple times, along with so many other Americans. We can't give the swamp unchecked power to spy on law-abiding Americans. Warrants MUST be required to protect our constitutional liberties and uphold the Fourth Amendment. I voted against an extension because I want real REFORM and ACCOUNTABILITY, not the status quo," Scott said.

The release references a June 12 deadline for Section 702 reauthorization and an op-ed Scott co-authored with House members arguing the intelligence community's push for a clean reauthorization is unacceptable.

Sens. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., introduced the Homeopathic Drug Product Safety, Quality, and Transparency Act, which would create an FDA approval pathway for homeopathic products distinct from the traditional pharmaceutical framework.

"The current federal regulatory framework is designed around traditional pharmaceuticals, but it is ill-equipped to review the safety and effectiveness of homeopathic products. So we are building a new one," Lee said. Tuberville offered a broader critique: "The reality is that too many Americans today are hooked on pharmaceuticals when they could be using homeopathic remedies, which are often cheaper and can yield miraculous results." The bill is endorsed by Americans for Homeopathy Choice Action, MAHA Action, the CPAC Foundation, the National Health Federation, the Health Freedom Defense Fund, and the National Products Association.

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., announced legislation Friday to restore funding for the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center, a program that provided free cybersecurity resources to roughly 19,000 state, local, territorial, and Tribal organizations before the Trump administration terminated its funding last year.

In a letter to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin included in the release, Warner wrote: "I write you urging you to correct your predecessor's abdication of responsibility to defend our nation from cyberattacks. The entirety of America's critical infrastructure are in grave danger from our adversaries and criminals using the latest artificial intelligence (AI) enabled tools to find vulnerabilities and exploit them for financial gain, to create chaos, or both." The Guaranteeing Universal Access to Cybersecurity Act would mandate $50 million annually beginning in FY27 to support MS-ISAC and directs CISA to restore and expand membership to organizations that lost access after the funding cancellation.

Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., issued three releases Friday — two on countering China in the AI race, one on the Secure America Act — making him the day's highest-volume individual sender among Republicans on non-immigration topics.

In a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on the FY27 State Department budget, Ricketts pressed Secretary of State Marco Rubio on semiconductor export controls, highlighting his Multilateral Alignment of Technology Controls on Hardware (MATCH) Act. "A world where Communist China is dominant in AI is very bad for the United States and for the entire world," Ricketts said. "Semiconductor supply chains, particularly semiconductor manufacturing equipment — SMEs — are critical to winning this competition." In a separate Fox Business appearance, Ricketts also touted his SAFE of Chips Act and made the case for year-round E15 fuel, saying: "Last time I filled up with E10, I saved 55 cents a gallon. With E15, you would save even more."

Sen. Warner joined a nine-senator bipartisan group — including Sens. Michael Bennet, D-Colo.; Jim Justice, R-W.Va.; John Fetterman, D-Pa.; Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va.; Chris Coons, D-Del.; Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Del.; Dave McCormick, R-Pa.; and Roger Wicker, R-Miss. — to sponsor the Hot Rotisserie Chicken Act, which would allow SNAP participants to purchase hot rotisserie chicken with their benefits.

"For families trying to stretch every dollar, it doesn't make much sense that SNAP recipients can buy a rotisserie chicken once it's cooled down, but not while it's still hot," Warner said. The bill amends the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 and has already passed the House. Companion legislation is under consideration for inclusion in the Senate Farm Bill. The bill is endorsed by the National Chicken Council, the Virginia Poultry Federation, and Feeding America.

Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., joined Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., in reintroducing the Federal Firearms Licensee Protection Act, which would increase the statutory maximum penalty for stealing firearms from licensed dealers from 10 to 20 years and impose mandatory minimums of three years for burglary and five years for robbery from an FFL. The bill would also criminalize attempted theft from licensed importers, manufacturers, dealers, or collectors.

"It's the criminal element committing these crimes that leads to more illegal firearms on our streets and more crime. It's past time to enact this legislation to put stiffer prison sentences on the books for these criminals," Hyde-Smith said. The ATF reported 4,046 FFL theft incidents involving 23,319 stolen firearms between 2021 and 2025. The bill was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee and carries 17 original Republican co-sponsors.

Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., introduced a two-bill package Friday — the Ultimate Human Responsibility in Defense Systems Act and the Warfighter AI Readiness and Preparedness (WARP) Act — to govern how artificial intelligence is integrated into U.S. military operations. The WARP Act was introduced alongside Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark. "We can't lose the essential skills that make our military the best in the world or implement systems that could make life and death decisions without human accountability," Kelly said.

Separately, Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., took to the Senate floor to urge confirmation of Katie Lane to the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana. "Katie's values are rooted in Montana and grounded in the Constitution," Daines said in prepared floor remarks. "I am confident she will be fair-minded, principled, and bring honor, decency, and integrity to the bench." Lane is a former Montana Deputy Solicitor General who attended the same Bozeman high school as Daines.

Signals

• volumeFriday release count of 43 ran 27.4% above the Friday baseline of 33.8, driven almost entirely by Secure America Act statements from both parties.
• coordinatedAt least nine Republican senators — Blackburn, Hoeven, Justice, Cornyn, Marshall, Schmitt, Lankford, Husted, Barrasso, and Ricketts — issued Secure America Act statements within a nine-hour window, representing the day's clearest coordinated rollout.
• volumeSen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., issued four releases Friday — on China AI policy, semiconductor export controls, Secure America Act, and a national security press call — the highest single-senator output in today's set.
• voteSen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., voted against a FISA Section 702 extension, a notable break from most of his conference; he cited the lack of Fourth Amendment warrant reforms.
• silent breaksSen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., has been quiet for 32 days but voted with five Republicans to support Sen. Schiff's Drain the Slush Fund Act amendment, per Schiff's release — his first documented Senate action in the input set in over a month.

Quiet desks

Senators with no release in two weeks or more.

• Sen. Alan Armstrong, R-OK—
• Sen. Tina Smith, D-MN37d
• Sen. Thom Tillis, R-NC32d
• Sen. Ron Johnson, R-WI25d
• Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-KY16d
• Sen. Mazie K. Hirono, D-HI16d
• Sen. Ted Cruz, R-TX16d
• Sen. Mike Rounds, R-SD15d