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The US Senate has passed a budget resolution that paves the way for funding Donald Trump’s mass deportation plan after his “border czar” said there were insufficient funds for the operation.
A 10-hour marathon session – dubbed a “vote-a-rama” – concluded in the early hours of Friday morning with a 52-48 vote almost entirely on party lines in favor of a spending structure that would see $175bn reserved for border security, including Trump’s prized border wall with Mexico, and a $150bn boost to the Pentagon budget.
Rand Paul, a senator from Kentucky, was the sole Republican to vote against the package at the end of a session that saw Democrats place numerous roadblocks in the form of amendments.
Friday’s vote came ahead of an attempt by the Republican leadership in the House of Representatives to fashion legislation that would roll Trump’s agenda – including a mass tax cut – into what the president has called “one big beautiful bill”.
Doubts have intensified over the likelihood of such a bill passing, given the Republicans’ tiny House majority and divisions within the party’s members in the chamber.
Lindsey Graham, the Republican chair of the Senate budget committee, said senators would delay considering tax cuts and spending and address them in a separate bill.
“This budget resolution is a complete gamechanger when it comes to securing our border and making our military more lethal. It will allow President Trump to fulfill the promises he made to the American people – a very big deal,” he said.
“I hope the House can pass one big bill that meets President Trump’s priorities. But this approach provides money that we needed yesterday to continue the momentum on securing our border, enforcing our immigration laws and rebuilding our military. Time is of the essence.”
He said Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, had told senators that the administration had run out of money for deportation operations and needed congressional funding to continue the mass expulsion of undocumented migrants that Trump had put at the centre of his campaign message.
Trump is seeking a legislative agenda that would include making tax cuts enacted in 2017 during his first presidency permanent before they expire this year. The House speaker, Mike Johnson, is attempting to assemble a $4.5tn tax-cutting package along with $2tn in cuts to health and other programs.
Commentators say the Senate vote gives Trump budget options if Johnson’s single-bill approach fails – as many predict it will.
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“Giving Trump ‘optionality’ if the House GOP plan fails was a smart move by [John] Thune [the GOP Senate majority leader],” wrote Punchbowl. “It’s a recognition that Speaker Mike Johnson is working with a very small – and often turbulent – majority where things can go off the rails quickly.”
Despite his support for a single bill, Trump voiced gratitude to Thune for supporting his immigration agenda in a post on his Truth Social network on Thursday, before senators voted.
“We are setting records, the likes of which have never been seen before, on stopping criminal illegals aliens from entering our Country,” he wrote. “Your work on funding this effort is greatly appreciated!”
Democratic amendments that included a measure to stop tax cuts for billionaires while food prices are rising and another prohibiting tax cuts for the wealthy if spending on Medicaid was being reduced failed but won support from a sole Republican senator, Susan Collins of Maine and Josh Hawley of Missouri, in each case.
Chuck Schumer, the Democrats’ leader in the Senate, vowed “a long drawn-out fight” to impede Trump’s agenda.
