Congress passes budget reconciliation for immigration enforcement: PwC

What happened?

The House on June 9 voted 214 to 212 to approve a $70 billion budget reconciliation bill passed by the Senate on June 5 that, among other things, provides funding for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol parts of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). President Trump is expected to sign the bill into law today. The final bill did not include a proposed $1 billion for the Secret Service to fund enhanced security and upgrades, including for the project at the East Wing of the White House or any provisions related to the $1.776 billion compensation fund established by the Justice Department as part of the settlement of President Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS related to disclosure of his tax returns. The bill also did not include any tax provisions.

Republicans used the reconciliation process to provide a mandatory funding stream for ICE and Border Patrol rather than via the annual discretionary appropriations process. A reconciliation bill can pass in both the House and Senate with simple majorities, while a 60-vote majority is required for Senate passage of appropriations bills. Thus, the reconciliation bill was able to pass the Senate with Republican-only votes while at least seven Democratic votes would have been required for passage of an appropriations bill. 

Observation: Action on the reconciliation bill had been postponed from before the Memorial Day recess because of concerns from some Republican members, and its passage comes after the June 1 deadline set by President Trump. The challenges Congressional Republicans faced in securing passage of this relatively small and straightforward bill illustrate how difficult it would be to pass another budget reconciliation bill this year, given the slim House and Senate Republican majorities.

Observation: The prospects are uncertain for enacting a third reconciliation bill, the timing of which would be largely driven by how quickly (or even whether) the administration and Congressional Republicans could settle on a consensus set of policies to pursue. While Senate Republicans generally have been circumspect on the prospects for a third reconciliation bill, House Republican leaders reportedly have already met to discuss potential tax and spending proposals that they have said they want to pass before the August Congressional recess.