Senate Concludes Vote-a-Rama on Narrow Reconciliation Instructions

The Senate approved the narrow Senate budget resolution funding U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in the early morning hours of Thursday, April 23, concluding a vote-a-rama that began the night before and lasted over 6 hours. The final vote was 50-48, with Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Rand Paul (R-KY) joining all Democrats in opposing the resolution. Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Mark Warner (D-VA) were absent due to personal reasons.  Senators took roll call votes on 16 amendments and approved only one in a unanimous vote — offered by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) related to the establishment of a reserve fund to allocate funding for the detention and expedited deportation of immigrations who are convicted of serious crimes. Click here for a complete tracker of the amendments.
 
Committees named in the reconciliation instructions will now draft legislation to allocate $70 billion for ICE and CBP, with recommendations due to the House and Senate Budget committees by May 15. President Trump has imposed a June 1 deadline for passage of a final bill. It remains unclear when the House will take up the Senate‑passed bill to fund the remainder of the Department of Homeland Security.

THIS DOCUMENT IS INTENDED TO PROVIDE YOU WITH GENERAL INFORMATION REGARDING THE CONCLUSION ON A VOTE-A-RAMA OF RECONCILIATION 2.0. THE CONTENTS OF THIS DOCUMENT ARE NOT INTENDED TO PROVIDE SPECIFIC LEGAL ADVICE. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE CONTENTS OF THIS DOCUMENT OR IF YOU NEED LEGAL ADVICE AS TO AN ISSUE, PLEASE CONTACT THE ATTORNEYS LISTED OR YOUR REGULAR BROWNSTEIN HYATT FARBER SCHRECK, LLP ATTORNEY. THIS COMMUNICATION MAY BE CONSIDERED ADVERTISING IN SOME JURISDICTIONS.