Senate Republicans race to fund ICE, CBP without Democrats as shutdown drags on

By Fox News · Fox News

Senate Republicans are moving to fast-track funding for immigration enforcement without any Democratic support as a partial Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown stretches into its second month. The upper chamber returns to Washington, D.C., on Monday, and the GOP already has its plan in motion to bypass Democrats’ blockade of funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). With President Donald Trump's blessing, they are using the budget reconciliation process to front-load funding for immigration enforcement for the remainder of his presidency. Taking that route doesn’t require any Democratic votes, but Republicans will have to put aside any differences they have if they want the legislation to work. SENATE GOP VOWS TO ‘GO IT ALONE’ ON ICE FUNDING AS DEMS DOUBLE DOWN ON SHUTDOWN Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., and Sen. Lindsey Graham , R-S.C., who chairs the committee that will launch the reconciliation process in the Senate, met with Trump on Friday to lay the groundwork for the package. Trump said on Truth Social shortly afterward, "Reconciliation is ON TRACK, and we are moving FAST and FOCUSED." "Radical Left Democrats like Cryin’ Chuck Schumer, and Hakeem ‘High-Tax’ Jeffries, will do their best to stop us, but we don’t need their votes on this Bill, as long as Republicans UNIFY, and stick together," the president said. "I am calling for the Bill to be done no later than June 1st, and on my desk," he continued. "The Department cannot wait any longer for full funding. We must beat the Radical Left Democrats at their own game." Trump’s push for a focused package is what Senate Republicans had been hoping for, given that several other items, like the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act, making their way into the bill could slow down work or get nixed by the rules that reinforce the process. GRAHAM EYES ‘DOWN PAYMENT’ ON TRUMP-BACKED SAVE ACT WITHOUT DEMOCRATIC SUPPORT "The…