Republicans will try to move their $72 billion immigration enforcement funding bill to the Senate floor on Wednesday, starting with a Budget Committee vote on its homeland security component this morning, and then a potential move to take up the bill on the Senate floor later in the day.
Republicans can afford to lose only three votes and still pass the legislation, which will be subject to an unlimited vote-a-rama.
The White House’s security money for the East Wing and ballroom are clouding the bill’s future: Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Bill Cassidy, R-La., wouldn’t commit to advancing the bill as the Judiciary Committee tries to write Secret Service funding that doesn’t run afoul of the Senate’s budget rules.
“They don’t know how much money they should ask for, but they picked a number. That’s not the way to run the government,” Cassidy told Semafor.