President Donald Trump gave his blessing Friday afternoon for a party-line package focused narrowly on immigration enforcement — in a boost to Senate GOP leaders amid the Department of Homeland Security funding stalemate.
Trump’s comments came after he met Friday with Senate Budget Chair Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso of Wyoming. The two lawmakers went to the White House to pitch Senate GOP leadership’s plan to restrict the party’s filibuster-skirting effort to only funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and parts of Customs and Border Protection.
“Reconciliation is ON TRACK, and we are moving FAST and FOCUSED in keeping our Border SECURE, and getting funding to the Department of Homeland Security and the Justice Department to continue our incredible SUCCESS at MAKING AMERICA SAFE AGAIN!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Trump had previously backed using reconciliation to pass funding for immigration enforcement after it became clear Democrats would not agree to reopen those shuttered operations within DHS without a deal for more guardrails on ICE and CBP. But the president’s post Friday, which hammered home the preference for focusing the bill on this issue, is a significant boost to GOP leaders as they face calls from some of their members to broaden the scope of any reconciliation measure.
Barrasso, in a subsequent post on X, said the White House meeting was “productive” and that Trump repeated his “deadline of June 1 to get to his desk a focused reconciliation bill that funds ICE and Border Patrol.”
Graham, whom Trump also re-endorsed Friday, is responsible for crafting the budget resolution that will allow the party to begin the reconciliation process — its second time using this maneuver in addition to last year’s tax and spending megabill. He is expected to tap the Judiciary Committee and the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs panel to draft the immigration enforcement measure.
Senate Republicans could have text for that budget resolution as soon as next week. It would then go to the Senate floor for a vote as soon as the week of April 20, according to three people granted anonymity to disclose private scheduling.
The resolution will greenlight ICE and Border Patrol funding for the rest of Trump’s presidency, Graham told Fox News’ Bret Baier during an interview Friday. Some Republicans had suggested funding the immigration enforcement agencies for up to ten years amid a standoff with Democrats on the issue.
GOP senators are also expected to not include pay-fors for the immigration enforcement funding, arguing that it would have gone through the appropriations process were it not for opposition from Democrats. They’ll need sign-off from their own conservatives and the right-flank in the House, however, to proceed with such a plan.
“We’re going to have a very specific bill coming out before June 1 that will fund the Border Patrol and ICE for the entire presidency — the three years left of President Trump,” Graham said.
Some Republicans have called for funding all of DHS through reconciliation. The Senate previously passed a bipartisan deal that would reopen the department except for ICE and Border Patrol, but it has stalled in the House as hard-liners demand the Senate first pass the immigration enforcement funding.
Graham, asked on Fox News about the House’s skepticism, said the Senate is “going to do it first to prove to the House that we’ve got the votes.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Myah Ward contributed to this report.