House Republicans passed a $70 billion immigration enforcement bill Tuesday afternoon, sending President Donald Trump an early gift ahead of his 80th birthday.
The House voted 214-212 to pass the Secure America Act, with all Democrats opposing the measure. Rep. Kevin Kiley (I-CA), who caucuses with Republicans, also voted no.
The spending bill would fund Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which were left out of a Department of Homeland Security funding bill earlier this year. The passage of the second GOP-led reconciliation bill comes just days before Trump’s 80th birthday on Sunday, when he will host a UFC fight on the White House’s South Lawn.
The president will sign the bill Wednesday, according to Punchbowl News.
Kiley told reporters ahead of the vote he was leaning no on the spending measure over disappointment that there have not been “meaningful bipartisan reforms to interior immigration enforcement.”
“I think that we need to restore trust and public confidence, and make sure that the mission of the agency is focused, and so I’m disappointed that we haven’t seen a bipartisan agreement along those lines,” Kiley said.
There was minimal Republican infighting in getting the measure across the finish line. However, House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairman Tim Wahlberg (R-MI) was briefly a no vote before flipping to yes. Wahlberg was seen by reporters talking to several members of leadership on the House floor, including Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) and Conference Chairwoman Lisa McClain (R-MI). It is unclear what the members were discussing.
Members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus did extract a legislative win from GOP leadership earlier in the day in exchange for their support in advancing the bill.
During a test vote, several members of the House Freedom Caucus demanded that leadership attach an immigration bill passed last Congress that would limit asylum and parole to the reconciliation bill in exchange for their votes, a source familiar with the matter told the Washington Examiner.
Leadership denied that demand but agreed to hold a separate vote on the immigration bill, the source explained. A second source told the Washington Examiner that leadership agreed to hold a vote on the immigration bill before July 4, as members of the House Freedom Caucus look to codify Trump’s border policies and “ensure Republican border wins are permanent.”
Republican leadership hoped to pass the reconciliation bill sooner. However, GOP outcry over an “anti-weaponization” fund announced by the Justice Department as part of a settlement agreement with Trump upended plans to usher the reconciliation bill through by a June 1 deadline set by the president.
Republican lawmakers concerned about who would be eligible for payouts from the $1.776 billion fund wanted assurances that the administration would not move forward with the creation of the fund before advancing the immigration enforcement spending bill.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told House lawmakers last week the administration would not pick up plans to establish the fund, assuaging Senate Republican lawmakers.
Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE), who previously expressed opposition to the fund’s creation, told the Washington Examiner he planned to support the reconciliation bill despite it not including a ban on the fund, as the court’s ruling made it a “dead issue.”
The Senate passed the measure last Friday, with only one GOP “no” vote from Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), after an hourslong vote-a-rama that ultimately did not include a ban on the DOJ fund.
The bill funds Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement for three years.