What Happened
AP reported that the Senate passed legislation before dawn Friday to fund President Donald Trump's immigration enforcement agencies, with the bill moving after weeks of delay and backlash over an unrelated $1.776 billion settlement fund tied to Trump's IRS lawsuit.
The Guardian reported the vote was 52-47 and came around 5 a.m. after a marathon "vote-a-rama." The bill would provide another $70 billion for ICE and the Department of Homeland Security through the rest of Trump's term, and it now heads to the House.
Lawmakers tried to attach language blocking the anti-weaponization settlement fund. Louisiana Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy proposed redirecting settlement payments to law enforcement officers injured during the Jan. 6 attack. Five Republicans joined Democrats on that amendment, but it still failed because it needed 60 votes.
Why This Matters
A giant immigration-enforcement funding bill is already a serious fight. Then Congress bolted on a second fight about a taxpayer-backed grievance fund connected to the president's own dropped lawsuit against the IRS.
Even acting Attorney General Todd Blanche had said earlier in the week that the fund would not go forward, according to AP and The Guardian. Senators still spent hours fighting over whether to block it permanently, because apparently "trust us, it is dead" was not enough for people staring at a $1.776 billion ghost.
The Dumb Part With The Budget Junk Drawer
The dumb part is the legislative pileup. Immigration money, shutdown pressure, a presidential IRS settlement, Jan. 6 injury payments, party unity tests and a 5 a.m. vote all got shoved into the same procedural suitcase until the zipper started screaming.
John Thune told reporters, according to The Guardian, that the bill would have been done several hours earlier if senators had not been dealing with issues around the fund. That is the congressional equivalent of saying dinner would have been ready sooner if the oven had not also been full of legal dynamite.
The Bottom Line
The bill passed, the settlement-fund limits did not, and the House gets the next turn. The real stupid shit is watching a border-funding vote turn into an overnight argument about whether the president's abandoned grievance fund needs a stake through the heart.
Sources
The Guardian: Senate approves $70bn for immigration crackdown amid splits over Trump fund