The Senate cleared the nearly $70 billion Department of Homeland Security funding bill in a middle-of-the-night vote early Friday, sending the package to the House with no significant restrictions on how the money can be spent. The bill, approved along party lines by the Republican-held chamber, provides what Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer described as a “rotten bill” that hands the Trump administration a blank check for immigration enforcement.
Immigrant-advocacy groups called the measure an “ATM for ICE,” warning that the lack of congressional strings attached would allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement to ramp up arrests and deportations without oversight. The funding is on top of roughly $170 billion Congress already approved for DHS last summer, as part of a broader package of tax breaks and spending priorities Trump signed into law.
For administration officials aligned with Trump’s signature 2024 campaign promise — the largest mass deportation operation in U.S. history — the new appropriation effectively guarantees that money will not become a limiting factor. ICE and other DHS components have faced chronic funding uncertainty in recent years, including a partial shutdown earlier this year when Congress failed to pass DHS appropriations on time. The partial shutdown ended in early May when Trump signed a stand-alone DHS funding bill.
The current package now goes to the House, where Republican leaders have signaled they will advance it quickly. House Democratic aides have not publicly stated whether they will attempt to amend or block the bill, but the party’s minority status limits their options. Some House Republicans have expressed concerns about the overall cost, though those objections have not gained enough traction to threaten passage, according to aides who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe internal deliberations.
Tom Homan, Trump’s former acting ICE director who has served as a de facto enforcement adviser, said during a radio interview this week that the funding would allow the administration to “finish the job” on deportations. “We have the will. Now we have the wallet,” Homan said.
The Heritage Foundation’s Mike Howell, a former DHS official who has been involved in shaping the administration’s immigration policy, said the bill ensures ongoing funding for the administration’s enforcement operations. He defended the nearly $70 billion figure as justified for the administration’s immigration enforcement goals.
Critics, including the liberal Center for American Progress, have argued that the scale of the funding — and the absence of conditions — removes any incentive for DHS to prioritize dangerous criminals over long-term residents with no criminal record. Vanessa Cardenas, the group’s executive director, expressed concerns that the bill’s lack of conditions and restrictions could enable harmful enforcement actions.
The bill’s path to passage was marked by months of internal Republican disputes. Earlier versions included a $1.8 billion fund linked to Trump’s personal legal settlements and a separate $1 billion allocation for White House security tied to what the Senate parliamentarian ruled was an improperly attached ballroom renovation. Both provisions were stripped in procedural moves. The parliamentarian’s rulings forced Republican leaders to pare down the bill to its core enforcement funding, which ultimately obtained unified GOP support.
Sen. Richard Durbin, the No. 2 Senate Democrat, said during floor debate that the bill included no protections against the use of enforcement powers in ways he deemed inappropriate. Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma countered that the bill delivers the enforcement resources the administration has promised.
The Congressional Budget Office has not yet released a final cost estimate for the package. The $70 billion figure reflects the total appropriations authorization in the bill text, according to Senate aides. The House is expected to take up the measure next week, with a final vote possible before the end of the month.