Senate Republicans are expected to take the first step this week toward passage of a party-line reconciliation bill funding ICE and Border Patrol, a crucial part of their effort to convince House Republicans to end the more than two-month-long DHS shutdown. The Senate Budget Committee is expected to release a budget resolution by Tuesday that instructs the Judiciary and Homeland Security committees to draw up plans to fund the agencies. The instructions are likely to include high ceilings for funding, which would give Senate Republicans flexibility in writing the bill and GOP senators expect the price tag to be in the $65 billion to $75 billion range. The Senate could hold the first vote on the budget resolution as soon as Tuesday which kicks off 50 hours of debate, equally divided between the two parties. With Republicans expected to yield back most of their time, the vote-a-rama that precedes final passage of the budget resolution could begin as soon as Wednesday night. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-South Dakota) will likely have to appease hardline conservatives in his caucus, who have demanded that the bill be broader than the “skinny” package he is pushing for. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and others are hoping to tack on a massive defense funding package, a proposal to modify capital gains taxes to reflect inflation and funding to cover ICE and Border Patrol for the next decade in the bill, warning that it could be their last chance to enact President Donald Trump’s agenda before Democrats potentially seize control of one or both branches of Congress in the midterms. Leader Thune has opted to keep the reconciliation package small to get it through the House and Senate as quickly as possible.
For today, the Senate will reconvene at 3:00 P.M. and will take up Confirmation of Executive Calendar #671 Andrew B. Davis, of Texas, to be United States District Judge for the Western District of Texas.
The House will reconvene at 2:00 P.M. for legislative business and at 6:30 P.M. will take up seven bills from the Energy and Commerce Committee under suspension of the Rules including, H.R. 7386 – First Responder Network Authority Reauthorization Act of 2026.
