With the House and Senate both finally back in session today for the sprint to July, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-South Dakota) says he’s “hopeful” that there may be enough Republican votes to advance a $72 billion budget reconciliation bill on the Senate floor later Wednesday, which would set up a marathon series of votes on amendments likely to last well into Thursday morning. The package would fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol through 2029. However, Senator Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) has vowed to offer an amendment that would prohibit the Trump administration from establishing a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund to pay out claims to people who say they were unjustly prosecuted by the Biden-era Justice Department. Republicans are reluctant to vote on the amendment, which, if adopted, could make it tougher to pass the package through the House or put it at risk of a veto by the president. The anticipated movement on reconciliation comes after months of Democrats opposing funding for the immigration enforcement agencies and Republicans moving ahead with their plan on their own through the budget reconciliation process, which sidesteps the 60-vote threshold required to advance most legislation. Republicans on the Senate Judiciary and Homeland Security committees who unveiled the text of the $72 billion package last month are expected to release an updated version as soon as Wednesday. The original package would have provided $1 billion to the Secret Service for “security adjustments and upgrades,” including for President Donald Trump’s East Wing renovation, where he plans to build a massive ballroom. But that funding faced intense scrutiny from a handful of Republicans, along with the Senate’s parliamentarian, and it is expected to be dropped from the final package.
The Senate is also expected to consider a Motion to proceed to Cal. #409, S.J.Res.188, disapproving the rule submitted by the Environmental Protection Agency relating to “National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants: Coal- and Oil-Fired Electric Utility Steam Generating Units: Final Repeal.”
The House is back for votes at 1:30 P.M. and is expected to complete consideration of H. Con. Res. 86 – Directing the President, pursuant to section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution, to remove the United States Armed Forces from hostilities against the Islamic Republic of Iran, Democrat Discharge Petition H. Res. 518 – Providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 2913) to authorize support for Ukraine and begin consideration of H. Con. Res. 84 – Directing the President pursuant to section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution to remove United States Armed Forces from Lebanon. The House may also take up Pursuant to a Rule: H.R. 7726 – Stop Child Care Scams Act of 2026 and H.R. 8872 – Preventing Waste, Fraud, and Abuse in TANF Act.
Also possible are three bills under suspension of the Rules that had been postponed.
