Senate Republicans approved $70 billion for immigration enforcement in the early hours of Friday morning, overcoming a grueling voting marathon that became a referendum on President Donald Trump’s “anti-weaponization” fund.After a stream of amendment votes that began on Thursday morning and lasted into the night, the Senate passed the measure without a ban on the $1.8 billion fund, which sparked a bipartisan backlash over the prospect of Jan. 6 defendants getting payouts.Senate leadership was able to keep most Republicans in line after acting Attorney General Todd Blanche scrapped the fund and stated it would not be revived in congressional testimony earlier this week.
But not all Republicans were satisfied, and several attempted to codify that promise into law. One of the GOP senators, Bill Cassidy (R-LA), spent hours trying to craft an amendment that could be adopted at a simple majority vote, but those efforts did not ultimately pass muster with the parliamentarian.
Instead, the amendment failed at a 60-vote threshold toward the end of the “vote-a-rama,” with six Republicans joining Democrats to block the fund and repurpose it to compensate Capitol police officers injured in the line of duty. The immigration enforcement bill now heads to the House, where Republicans will bring it to the floor next week.
