Senate Republicans passed their $70 billion immigration enforcement bill Friday, beating back several attempts to rein in the Justice Department’s “Anti-Weaponization Fund.”
Senators voted 52-47 on the bill after roughly 18 hours of amendment votes. In the end, Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska was the only Republican to vote against the bill. She had previously voted against the budget blueprint for the immigration enforcement plan and had raised concerns that it circumvented the appropriations process.
The House left town Thursday rather than stay and pass it before leaving for the weekend. Now it won’t go to President Donald Trump until early next week — pushing the GOP even further past Trump’s self-imposed June 1 deadline.
Friday’s vote followed weeks of stops and starts as Republicans saw momentum on their party-line package get repeatedly derailed because of Trump’s political priorities.
