Trump Locks in $70 Billion for Border Enforcement After Record Shutdown
House Republicans secured $70 billion in immigration enforcement funding after a 76-day DHS shutdown, using budget reconciliation to bypass Democratic opposition and insulate Trump's border agenda through the end of his presidency.
House Republicans locked in $70 billion for immigration enforcement Wednesday, closing out the longest Homeland Security shutdown in U.S. history. The 214-212 vote sends the Secure America Act to President Trump's desk after Democrats held ICE and CBP funding hostage to demand enforcement reforms.
The legislation marks a structural shift in border security financing. Republicans used budget reconciliation to pass the bill with simple majorities, bypassing traditional bipartisan appropriations where Democrats held veto power.
The funding package frontloads routine annual appropriations across three fiscal years through 2029. That move prevents Democrats from defunding Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol in future budget fights.
"By funding it for three years, we've taken away their ability to cut that funding or to take hostage the funding for the remainder of the Trump administration," House Speaker Mike Johnson told Fox News. "It was Republicans and Republicans alone who did the responsible thing and funded these critically important agencies at this critical time."
The $70 billion package allocates $38.5 billion for ICE, $22.6 billion for Customs and Border Protection, $3.5 billion for border security technology and screening, and $5 billion in discretionary DHS funding. ICE's typical annual budget hovers around $10 billion. This legislation nearly quadruples that allocation through fiscal year 2029.
Democrats triggered the record 76-day DHS shutdown earlier this year after two U.S. citizens died at the hands of federal agents during Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis.
Renee Good died Jan. 7 when an ICE officer shot her during what authorities called a vehicle assault attempt. Alex Pretti was fatally shot by CBP agents during a protest on Jan. 24.
DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said Democrats engaged in a "radical attempt to protect violent criminal illegal aliens and undermine President Trump's highly successful border security agenda" during the shutdown. He described the standoff as "more than 100 days since congressional Democrats defunded ICE and Border Patrol."
The Senate passed the bill 52-47 on June 5 after a grueling 19-hour "vote-a-rama." Only one Republican, Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, voted against it.
"My fear is we have entered down a slope that is so slippery we're never going to be able to crawl our way back out of it," Murkowski told the Washington Times.
In the House, Rep. Kevin Kiley, an independent who caucuses with Republicans, cast the sole non-Democratic vote against the measure.
"The idea that we're actually going to now weaken one of the few pillars of sanity we have, which is the annual bipartisan appropriations process, and set this precedent that when you don't reach bipartisan agreement, you can just do an end run around it — that's hugely problematic to me," Kiley told reporters.
The legislation included a controversial $1.8 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund. The Justice Department scrapped the proposal before passage, though the final bill contains no provision explicitly banning it.
The fund originated as part of a DOJ settlement with Trump over his IRS lawsuit. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche testified the Justice Department will not move forward with it. Trump said he "loves" the fund, leaving its ultimate fate uncertain.
"This is in a totally different solar system than any past government settlement on record," Adam Zimmerman, a professor at USC Gould School of Law, told PBS. A federal judge in Virginia paused the fund's creation. A hearing is scheduled for June 12.
The Secure America Act builds on a $140-170 billion ICE and CBP funding package enacted July 4, 2025, which doubled ICE's ranks. As of February, ICE and CBP had been apportioned $33 billion and $56 billion respectively from those funds.
Border Czar Tom Homan said the new funding will expand enforcement operations.
"When this reconciliation passes, that's $70B that will fund us until the end of the Trump Administration," Homan said in a White House release. "You're going to see targeting increase, you're going to see arrests increase. With additional funding, we're going to keep our foot on the gas and keep moving forward."
Democrats had demanded reforms including badge-wearing requirements, warrant restrictions, and mask limitations for agents. None of those provisions appear in the bill.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries called it a "$70 billion blank check, with no oversight, no accountability and no guardrails" in remarks to the Daily Mail.
Sen. Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat, said Senate Republicans "have just jammed through another bill to spend taxpayer money on out-of-control and unaccountable immigration enforcement while shielding them from popular, commonsense reforms."
The funding package now heads to Trump's desk for his expected signature. Rep. August Pfluger, chairman of the Republican Study Committee, called it "Schumer-proofing the border" in a press release.
Rep. Keith Self of the Freedom Caucus is already pushing "Reconciliation 3.0" to peel more funding from the annual appropriations process. House Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole called reconciliation a "bad practice" that erodes congressional authority. Senate leaders doubt a third reconciliation bill is feasible.
The structural shift is complete. Immigration enforcement funding is now insulated from annual congressional fights through the remainder of Trump's presidency, fundamentally altering the balance of power between the parties on border security policy.