Senate passes $70B for Trump's immigration crackdown

The U.S. Senate passed legislation early Friday morning providing the Department of Homeland Security with an additional $70 billion for immigration enforcement, delivering a victory to President Donald Trump. The vote was 52-47, with no Democratic support and only one Republican dissent. The funding will support Trump's aggressive deportation crackdown over the next three years and augment approximately $100 billion in unspent DHS law enforcement money that Republicans enacted last year. The bill now moves to the House of Representatives, where Republican leaders indicate it will not be taken up before next week. Much of the debate centered on controversial provisions, including an "anti-weaponization" fund that critics have called a "slush fund" for compensating Trump's political allies. Democrats and some Republicans attempted to eliminate the fund, with Senator Chuck Schumer leading efforts to permanently outlaw it. Senator Susan Collins, Jon Husted, and Dan Sullivan voted with Democrats on key procedural motions, though all related amendments ultimately failed. Senator Thom Tillis later offered an amendment to reallocate the fund's resources to fraud enforcement, which failed 84-15. The legislation also included debates over Trump's proposed 90,000 square-foot White House ballroom, with proposals to prohibit federal or private funds for its construction. Republican Senator Bill Cassidy, who recently lost his primary to Trump-aligned challengers, joined Democratic Senator Cory Booker in a court brief urging a judge to maintain a block on Trump's fund, arguing it "presents an immediate and dire threat to our constitutional order." The timing of the debate comes five months before November midterm elections, with several Republicans facing competitive re-election races amid declining Trump approval ratings even among Republicans.