OAN Staff Addie Davis
8:30 AM – Thursday, April 23, 2026
Senate Republicans voted to advance a non-binding $70 billion budget resolution, setting the stage to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol for the next three years.
The overnight voting process, with the final passage after 3:30 a.m. on Thursday, was the next step toward funding the agencies amid the ongoing, record-breaking partial government shutdown. The funding measure passed with a narrow 50-48 margin, receiving no Democrat votes. Two Republicans voted against the resolution: Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska).
The shutdown began in mid-February when Democrats in Congress refused to pass legislation funding the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which houses the two agencies, due to concerns over the regulation of immigration enforcement efforts.
Congress has reached a stalemate over funding the department, despite a Republican majority in both chambers, due to the Senate filibuster, which has created a de facto 60-vote supermajority in order to pass most legislation.
The budget reconciliation resolution bypasses this Senate procedure, but it faces other procedural hurdles.
“We have a multistep process ahead of us, but at the end Republicans will have helped ensure that America’s borders are secure and prevented Democrats from defunding these important agencies,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.).
A number of amendments were proposed to the resolution, such as those focusing on healthcare costs, but were shot down.
“Instead of pumping hundreds of billions of dollars into ICE and Border Patrol, Republicans should be working with Democrats to lower out-of-pocket costs,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).
Some Republicans also raised objections to the resolution because it did not include amendments related to the SAVE America Act championed by President Donald Trump and GOP leaders. The act is meant to ensure election integrity, which includes requiring proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections.
Senator John Kennedy (R-La.) briefly held up the vote to voice his frustrations over aspects of the act not being included.
“This is the last train leaving the station,” Kennedy stated, though he eventually allowed the voting to proceed.
The budget reconciliation plan follows the Senate’s passage of a bill funding the rest of the DHS. However, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.) refused to bring that bill for a vote in the House until funding measures were provided for ICE and Border Patrol.
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