Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., released his plan Tuesday to help fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol amid Democrat opposition.
Senate Republicans aim to pass the resolution this week via the reconciliation process, which requires a majority vote.
Republicans hold a 53-47 edge in the Senate.
"Republicans are doing something that must be done quickly and that our Democrat colleagues are trying to prevent us from doing," Graham, the chairman of the Budget Committee, said in a statement.
"That something is simple: fully fund Border Patrol and ICE at a time of great threat to the United States," Graham added.
President Donald Trump had set a June 1 deadline to fund the two agencies.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., bashed Graham's budget.
"Instead of doing literally anything to lower costs, Republicans are spending their time working hard to cut another massive blank check for ICE and Border Patrol — without any reforms or even basic guardrails," Murray said in a statement.
Graham's resolution tasks the Senate Judiciary Committee and Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee with drafting an immigration enforcement bill, Politico reported.
The resolution establishes a ceiling of $70 billion for each committee's portion.
Republicans are hoping to fund the agencies for 3.5 years, CBS News reported.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-N.D., said funding the agencies through reconciliation is not what he intended.
"I really regret that the Democrats have forced us down this path because, in my view, the appropriations process is one of the — maybe not many but at least few — things that we ought to be able to do around here in a bipartisan way," Thune told reporters.
House Republicans will take up the measure next week after it passes the upper chamber, reported Politico.
The Department of Homeland Security has been shut down since Feb. 14.
Last month, the Senate struck a bipartisan agreement to fund DHS without funding ICE and Customs and Border Protection, but the deal was unable to pass the House after opposition from hard-line Republicans.
The House instead passed a bill to fund DHS through May, but the legislation was unable to pass the Senate.
Sam Barron ✉
Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.
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