It only took a five-week shutdown of a major Cabinet agency, but the GOP’s reconciliation dreams have new life Tuesday morning.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said in an interview Monday night that a brewing Homeland Security spending deal has lent new momentum to the push for another party-line bill. That bill would fund immigration enforcement — and potentially much more.
“If we end up going down that route, we’ll try and make the most of the opportunity,” he told POLITICO.
That’s a big tell from Thune, who up to now has been noncommittal on the idea of a second reconciliation bill this Congress. The idea also appears to have buy-in from President Donald Trump after a White House sales job Monday from GOP Sens. Katie Britt of Alabama, Steve Daines of Montana, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Bernie Moreno of Ohio.
Border czar Tom Homan, Stephen Miller, James Blair and soon-to-be Secretary Markwayne Mullin were also in the meeting.
— The GOP’s focus: The reconciliation bill senators are pitching would be limited to ICE enforcement operations and — in a crucial concession to the president — portions of the SAVE America Act.
Trump agreed in the meeting to back off his demand to link the bills on the condition that SAVE provisions become part of the reconciliation push, two people granted anonymity to describe the meeting told POLITICO.
Not much of the elections bill now on the Senate floor would comply with strict budget rules, but two people tell POLITICO that GOP senators are looking at providing federal funding to incentivize states to adopt voter ID requirements and other features of the bill.
Republicans might find it hard to stop there, however. Expect supplemental funding for the Iran war to come up as a potential costly add-on, and conservatives in the House have plenty of their own ideas, too.
— Democratic tripwires: Under the outlines discussed Monday night, Democrats are getting what they wanted last week — a vote on a bill that funds TSA, FEMA and other DHS functions without including ICE’s controversial removal operations.
But there are caveats. The deal would fund the nonenforcement part of ICE, including Homeland Security Investigations, as well as the Border Patrol, under a deal senators discussed last week.
That could keep it from winning sweeping Democratic support in the Senate — but it could peel off the handful of senators needed to get the plan across the finish line.
— What’s next: Senators in both parties are racing to finalize an agreement as a two-week recess looms. Appropriators are now exchanging legislative text, a person with knowledge of the talks told POLITICO.
“I’m more optimistic that by the end of the week, we will fund the Department of Homeland Security,” Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) said.
What else we’re watching:
— Mullin sworn in, and his replacement: Mullin sent his resignation to the Senate on Monday night shortly after his 54-45 confirmation vote. The president will swear Mullin in as DHS secretary Tuesday at 1:30 p.m.
Presuming Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt makes an announcement Tuesday morning on his replacement, the Senate is looking to do the swearing-in the same day. Alan Armstrong, an oil executive, is expected to be picked to finish Mullin’s term, as first reported by NOTUS and confirmed by two people briefed on the plan.
— ‘Modern watergate’: Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) will unveil new records as part of his panel’s inquiry into former special counsel Jack Smith, according to a committee aide granted anonymity to describe private planning.
The release will coincide with a scheduled Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing Tuesday morning, chaired by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), drawing comparisons between efforts to investigate Trump during the Biden administration and the Watergate scandal that ultimately took down President Richard Nixon.
Meredith Lee Hill and Hailey Fuchs contributed to this report.
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