**National | Congress**
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## WHY IT MATTERS
President Donald Trump is pressing Congress to pass a second major piece of legislation focused on immigration enforcement funding, with border security and ICE operations at the center of the push. The effort signals that Republican leadership in both chambers views border enforcement funding as a sustained legislative priority, not a one-time budget measure.
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## WHAT HAPPENED
President Trump called on Congress to deliver a second legislative package — which he described as another “big, beautiful bill” — dedicated to funding Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations, setting a target deadline of June 1 for the bill to reach his desk.
The announcement came as Senate Majority Leader John Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson unveiled a parallel strategy aimed at securing border-related funding through a legislative mechanism designed to advance the measure without Democratic support.
Thune and Johnson’s plan is structured to lock in border and immigration enforcement funding on a multi-year basis, providing sustained financial backing for ICE and related agencies beyond the typical annual appropriations cycle.
The push comes after Republicans advanced their first major budget reconciliation package earlier in the legislative session. The second bill, as described by Trump, would concentrate specifically on immigration enforcement resources.
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## BY THE NUMBERS
– **June 1** — The deadline set by President Trump for the second legislative package to reach his desk
– **2** — The number of major legislative packages Trump is seeking to advance through Congress in the current session, with the second focused on ICE funding
– **Multi-year** — The duration Thune and Johnson’s plan seeks to lock in border enforcement funding, moving beyond single fiscal-year appropriations
– **2** — The chambers coordinating on the strategy, with both the Senate and House leadership aligned on the approach to bypassing Democratic opposition
– **Billions** — The scale of funding involved in ICE and border enforcement operations annually; ICE’s current budget exceeds $9 billion per fiscal year
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## ZOOM OUT
The push for a second legislative package reflects a broader Republican strategy of using reconciliation and other procedural tools to advance immigration enforcement priorities without needing Democratic votes in the Senate.
Nationally, immigration enforcement funding has become one of the most contested budget battlegrounds in recent years. Democrats have broadly opposed large-scale increases to ICE’s operating budget, while Republicans have argued that sustained, multi-year funding commitments are necessary to ensure continuity of enforcement operations.
The effort by Thune and Johnson to “sidestep Democrats” mirrors similar strategies used by both parties in prior administrations when one party controls both chambers and the White House. Budget reconciliation, which requires only a simple majority in the Senate rather than the 60 votes typically needed to overcome a filibuster, has increasingly become the vehicle of choice for major fiscal priorities.
The focus on ICE funding also follows months of expanded deportation operations under the Trump administration, which have required significant operational and logistical resources. Administration officials have pointed to those operations as justification for securing a stable, long-term funding stream rather than relying on year-to-year congressional appropriations.
Other states and localities have separately filed legal challenges to federal immigration enforcement operations, creating a political environment in which Congress is being asked to provide both the legal backing and the financial resources for continued enforcement activity.
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## WHAT’S NEXT
Republican leadership in both chambers is expected to begin drafting the specific legislative text for the second package in the coming weeks. The June 1 deadline set by Trump gives Congress roughly several weeks to move the bill through committee review, floor debate, and final passage.
If Republican leaders choose to advance the bill through budget reconciliation, the Senate Parliamentarian will need to review provisions to ensure they comply with reconciliation rules, which restrict the types of policy changes that can be included.
Democrats are expected to oppose the measure and may use procedural tools available to the minority to slow or complicate the timeline.
The bill’s final shape — including total funding levels, the duration of appropriations, and which specific enforcement programs are covered — has not yet been publicly detailed. Congressional committees with jurisdiction over homeland security and appropriations are expected to play a central role in developing the package before it moves to a floor vote.