Congress

Trump got $170 billion for immigration. Now he has to enact it.

Published

1 year ago

July 5, 2025

President Donald Trump’s megabill with $170 billion for border and immigration enforcement squeaked through Congress after days of promises, arm twisting and implicit threats to wavering members.

Now — the clock is ticking to spend the money.

The Trump administration has three-and-a-half years to drastically expand the nation’s border enforcement and deportation infrastructure, a massive logistical challenge for which there is no easy comparison. It must hire and train thousands of new immigration officials, secure contracts to ramp up detention capacity and expand the immigration court system. All of that is in pursuit of an ambitious White House target: 1 million annual deportations.

The megabill, which the president signed into law Friday, offers an unprecedented infusion of cash into the country’s immigration enforcement apparatus, but even Trump border czar Tom Homan acknowledges the administration has a great deal of work ahead, especially when it comes to fulfilling Trump’s pledge to hire 10,000 new Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

“Look, this isn’t easy. Ten thousand ICE officers? Never happened before,” Homan told Blue Light News on Friday. “But I’ll say this: It’s about time … with more money, we can do more.”

Homan is confident the money will be spent by the end of Trump’s term, but couldn’t predict how long it will take for the administration to hit 1 million annual removals. He is already working with ICE to assess how many new agents the agency can hire over the next three months, and how quickly the administration can bring on new detention beds.

The Trump administration’s ability to expeditiously spend the billions it demanded is likely to prove decisive in its effort to increase deportations, a key campaign pledge and a line the administration will likely want to tout ahead of the midterms.

With the new money, the Trump administration will focus on constructing more of the border wall and barriers, while beefing up technology that will allow agents to communicate with each other in cellular and radio dead zones, Homan said.

The administration will also move quickly to grow detention capacity, working with contractors to bring vacant prisons and facilities back online and build up soft-sided facilities like Florida did with “Alligator Alcatraz.”

ICE has been “on a constant chase, trying to move flights out as quickly as possible just to make room for the arrests they’re making — they’re averaging 1,500 to 2,000 a day,” Homan said. “Teams are coming home before the end of a shift because of lack of beds — not a lot, but it’s happened a few times. So the beds are going to get us more capability for detention. That’s the big thing.”

The administration has also been fielding contractor pitches on technology and other solutions to improve its targeting efforts — finding undocumented immigrants inside the country. Homan said the administration will also work with contractors to ramp up transportation and removal flights, while also potentially using them to fill jobs that don’t require a badge or a gun.

John Sandweg, acting ICE director from 2013 to 2014, highlighted the difficulty of hiring that many people that fast for complicated jobs. Significantly expanding ICE’s footprint includes recruiting, vetting, onboarding and training thousands of new officers and will require building out the agency’s human resources department, training centers, office space and resources — from vehicles to weapons.

“That is way harder than it sounds,” Sandweg said. “And this is a second term — they have three and a half years left.”

Past presidents, including Joe Biden, have secured billions from Congress, only to learn that “shovel ready” projects are hard to come by. The Biden administration rushed to get funds out the door before Trump took office, and the current administration has tried to freeze hundreds of billions of dollars in grants — only to be stymied by the courts.

Sandweg estimated deploying 10,000 new officers would take at least three years, and if the administration wants to get this done before Trump’s term ends, “you’re going to have to really push it to the limits in order to get them operational in this administration.”

That has him concerned that vetting standards could be lowered for speed, he said. The rapid build-up of Customs and Border Patrol under former President George W. Bush raised questions about that administration’s hiring standards at the time, which resulted in widespread misconduct at the agency that carried into the Obama administration.

And as illegal border crossings decline, ICE must look within the country to reach its arrest quota — a goal of 3,000 daily apprehensions in recent weeks. But an increase in arrests in the months ahead doesn’t automatically result in more deportations, as it will take time for the administration to build out a “logistical pipeline all over the country,” said Ken Cuccinelli, who served as deputy secretary of Homeland Security during Trump’s first term.

“It’s a whole lot of little contracts with state and local officials. It’s building more facilities. It’s reopening the ones they already have. And all you need is one choke point in the logistics — every convoy is as fast as the slowest ship,” Cuccinelli said. “You’ve got to have the planes, the vehicles, the manpower, the security, in all the right places.”

The domestic policy bill also includes over $1 billion for the immigration court system to hire more judges and staff, but it’s unclear how quickly the administration can build out the courts, and whether it can move at a rate that can keep up with an increased pace of ICE arrests — or if the effort will ultimately result in longer detention time.

The Trump administration’s efforts to work around the immigration courts have been met with legal challenges. And the case backlog is substantial: roughly 700 immigration judges are coping with a 3.5 million case pile-up.

The funding for immigration judges is “important as well, because the system is backlogged,” said Michael Hough, director of federal relations at NumbersUSA, a group that works to reduce both legal and illegal immigration. “Just because you detain these people, especially people who have been here for a while, they need hearings — you’ve got to get them in front of an immigration judge.”

While the White House celebrates the bill’s passage, political pressure is already growing for congressional Republicans to enact new policy. Immigration hawks say the money is crucial, but the party also has to look to legislation that will make permanent changes to the immigration system — such as reviving talks around border security and asylum law from the party’s legislation from last year, known as H.R.2.

“There are other legislative changes that Republicans campaigned on, and that we’re going to continue to be looking to them to move things forward and not just sit on their hands now that they’ve passed the Big Beautiful Bill Act,” said a person close to the Trump administration, granted anonymity to speak candidly. “No, this is a budget reconciliation bill … it’s infused a ton of money into this effort, but there’s still some policy changes that the administration has talked about and wants to pursue.”

Congress

Senate-passed government funding bill gets warm House reception

Published

2 hours ago

August 13, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

In a sign of momentum for efforts to punt government funding talks beyond the midterms, House Rules Chair Virginia Foxx predicted Thursday that a Senate-approved stopgap spending measure could pass in the House.

“I think it will pass on suspension,” the North Carolina Republican told reporters as she presided over a pro forma session of the House.

She was referring to an expedited procedure typically reserved for noncontroversial bills that require a two-thirds majority vote to secure passage — a workaround for House GOP leaders who might not be able to bring the measure up under a party-line procedural rule.

Before leaving for their extended recess this past weekend, senators passed a bill with overwhelming bipartisan support that would extend current government funding levels until Dec. 11, with some exceptions. It also included a provision that would block the Trump administration from finalizing — for the length of the stopgap — a controversial plan to put political appointees in charge of approving federal grants.

In contrast, the House passed a short-term funding measure before its own summer break that would put off larger government funding decisions until Dec. 4. Democrats largely opposed that bill, angry at Republicans for shutting them out of negotiations and not including legislative language to ensure funding would not go to certain immigration enforcement activities.

Foxx’s suggestion that House Republicans could ultimately eschew their original plan for the Senate’s offering could be foreshadowing an inevitable compromise between the two chambers as members of both parties are eager to spend as much time as possible in their districts leading up to the November elections — rather than being stuck in Washington at loggerheads.

The Senate measure, which incorporated the funding increases and authorizations the Trump administration requested, also has the White House’s explicit support.

But it’s not clear whether Speaker Mike Johnson would agree to put the Senate bill on the floor, under suspension or otherwise. A Johnson spokesperson did not say Thursday whether the speaker would advance the measure.

One top House Democrat signaled she would likely help get the Senate spending bill over the finish line: Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the senior Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, called the measure “a welcome improvement” from the House’s product.

Congress

Capitol agenda: ‘No tax’ fever hits Congress

Published

6 hours ago

August 13, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Special tax carve-outs for everyday Americans are suddenly all the rage in Congress.

What began with President Donald Trump’s signature tax cuts has sprung copycats, with lawmakers from both sides of the aisle proposing breaks on virtually everything — from boat loan interest to selling New Jersey swag.

“Must be an election year,” Rep. David Schweikert, a retiring tax writer.

It’s all part of lawmakers’ push to show they’re responding to voters’ affordability concerns ahead of the midterms, despite the mixed reviews for last year’s GOP tax cuts — even from Trump supporters.

The slew of targeted tax break proposals are modeled and named after some of the best known provisions of Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act, with titles like “No Taxes on Utility Bills” and “No Tax on Health Care.”

Still, they’ve spurred frustrations from some conservatives over clogging the tax code with smaller, specific changes, while progressives worry the breaks eat into funding dollars they’d like to see go elsewhere. And fiscal hawks have sounded off on concerns over shrinking the tax base while the U.S. has a sky-high deficit.

None of this is set to go away anytime soon, tax experts say, as provisions from the megabill are poised to expire in 2028. That leaves lawmakers with an opportunity to extend and create more special exemptions in addition to the tax breaks on tips, overtime, seniors and car-loan interest.

“These policies elicited eye rolls with Republicans while they were crafting the tax bill — these were just Trumpist favors they had to include before getting to the real tax cuts,” said Jessica Riedl, a former Republican tax aide now at Brookings Institution. “Over time, Republicans have increasingly embraced this kind of stuff. I don’t think this is a temporary trend.”

Plus, for Democrats, there’s the exemptions that possible 2028 hopefuls have been looking to enact, from Sen. Jon Ossoff’s proposal to temporarily allow farmers to shield crop payments from taxes to Sen. Chris Van Hollen’s plan to strike everyone earning less than $46,000 from paying federal income taxes.

And both parties recognize that allowing the breaks to lapse during a presidential election year could be a risky gambit.

“I don’t know what they think is going to happen,” said Bob Lord, a vice president at Patriotic Millionaires, a group of wealthy individuals who support higher taxes, who helped devise Van Hollen’s plan. “If they do away with no tax on tips, well, they can kiss the state of Nevada goodbye.”

What else we’re watching:

— FIRST IN IC: FLANAGAN TALKS SCHUMER, PANELS: Democratic Senate hopeful Peggy Flanagan — fresh off her primary victory in Minnesota Tuesday —said she’d pursue many of the same committee assignments as predecessor Sen. Tina Smith if elected. “This particular seat has a long track record of serving on the Indian Affairs Committee,” Flanagan, who would be the first Native American woman elected to the chamber, said, adding she “would look forward to serving on that committee and bringing my lived experience and work in strengthening tribal government relations to that table.” Flanagan also flagged Agriculture, Banking and Health, adding “there are a lot of priorities for Minnesotans that go right through that committee.” Flanagan also declined to back Chuck Schumer as the party’s leader should Democrats retake the chamber, saying she was “grateful” for his work but, “I think it’s time for us to have a new voice in that role.”

— REPUBLICANS TRY TO KEEP THEIR FRAUD FIGHTING DREAMS ALIVE: House Republicans are hoping Vice President JD Vance’s personal appeal to the conference to tackle alleged abuse of safety-net programs will push the issue back to the forefront of the GOP’s already-long priority list. But many are skeptical any such legislation will ultimately reach the president’s desk. Finding ways to cut government waste and fraud across Medicare, Medicaid and federal food assistance programs was a top priority for House Republicans, who set out earlier this year to pass another party-line reconciliation package centralizing the effort. Many believed the fraud issue would speak to voters’ larger concerns about affordability, since it would ostensibly involve returning lost funds to government programs.

Brian Faler, Mia McCarthy and Robert King contributed to this report.

Congress

Cory Mills hopes Trump boost will overcome Ethics headlines in Florida primary

Published

9 hours ago

August 13, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

TALLAHASSEE, Florida — Rep. Cory Mills, under investigation by the House and shunned by some of his GOP colleagues in Congress, heads into a primary next week hoping a months-old endorsement from President Donald Trump will outweigh negative headlines and weak fundraising

Mills has remained adamant that he has done nothing wrong amid a long line of incidents — including a restraining order placed on him at the request of a former girlfriend — and has defied calls from other Republicans to step down from his central Florida congressional seat. He has compared his own legal woes to Trump’s, even as some media outlets have reported he has come under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice.

“I’m the only person who sits on this stage today who has been endorsed three times by President Donald J. Trump,” Mills said last week at a primary debate in New Smyrna Beach. “I’m going to continue to fight for the American people, and that’s not what the swamp wants. But I can tell you right now, I’ve never cared about what the swamp wants or what the swamp needs.”

Mills’ bid to hang onto the state’s 7th District is just the latest race in a summer replete with members’ Ethics concerns hanging over their campaigns. The House Ethics panel derailed GOP Rep. Chuck Edwards’ reelection campaign last week after recommending censure for inappropriate behavior with female staffers. And Rep. Max Miller, an Ohio Republican, is officially on the ballot this fall after pressure campaigns failed to push him out amid domestic abuse allegations that he denies.

But if Mills fends off his three Republican primary challengers, his seat will likely become the top target for Florida Democrats. He has seen his fundraising efforts stagger, and his latest federal campaign reports show that he has less than $70,000 in his campaign account.

Republicans are trying to pick up as many as four seats in the state following a mid-decade redistricting push by Gov. Ron DeSantis that reshaped districts held by Democratic incumbents. Mills’ district did not change under that new map; Trump carried it by more than 12 points in 2024, but only won it by about 5.5 points four years earlier.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has already targeted the seat and has lined up behind Bale Dalton, a military veteran who also worked as chief of staff for Bill Nelson when Nelson led NASA.

Mills, who is seeking a third term in Congress, is currently under investigation by the House Ethics Committee into whether he benefited from contracts from the federal government. In February, Washington police investigated whether he assaulted a former girlfriend. Lindsey Langston, a former Miss United States and Republican state committee member from north Florida, accused him of threatening to release sexually explicit videos when asked for a restraining order. There have been calls to censure or even expel Mills from other members of Congress.

Trump gave Mills his “complete and total endorsement” last February, and Mills has leaned into that endorsement in his campaign messaging to voters, including a new television ad the campaign has cut. (It’s not clear when that ad will air. Mills does not have any pending ad buys, according to ad tracking firm AdImpact.)

Trump last week and on Tuesday evening posted repeated endorsements on his Truth Social account in several other Florida contests including governor. But he did not include one for Mills.

The three GOP challengers seeking to oust Mills have contended that he has lost trust among Republican voters and other GOP elected officials.

Ryan Elijah, a former local television anchor who has led primary opponents in fundraising, has warned GOP voters that backing Mills will result in Democrats flipping the seat in November.

“We have a member of Congress who is on the verge of getting kicked out, and that’s what you need to understand,” Elijah said at last week’s debate. “We’re all conservatives here. But if you look the other way, we are going to get a huge surprise in November.”

Elijah, who waved a copy of the since-expired restraining order at Mills during last week’s debate, told Blue Light News that he got into the race because of Mills and his “reputation” that has alienated other Republicans.

“We’re not running against the president, we’re not running against the party,” he said this week.

Elijah’s bid to knock off Mills has picked up support from central Florida sheriffs as well as GOP Reps. Anna Paulina Luna and Mike Haridopolos. Luna previously told POLITICO she thought Mills should have resigned from Congress.

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, a law enforcement officer well-known in the region who routinely gets statewide attention, ripped into Mills this past week as a “liar” even though Florida’s 7th does not include that county. Judd was upset Mills listed him as a supporter on his website because the sheriff endorsed him in a previous run.

Others challenging Mills have leaned into other allegations against him as well. Michael Don Johnson, an Army veteran who also worked for the Pentagon and ran against Mills two years ago, has criticized Mills over his personal life as well as reports alleging inconsistencies regarding his military record. Mills has sharply denied that he has misrepresented his service in order to receive awards he didn’t deserve.

At last week’s debate, Johnson pushed back against Republicans upset with his criticisms of Mills and said they had “warped minds.”

“I’m sorry that you folks like lies and falsehoods, you need to go to talk to your preacher,” Johnson said. “I’m telling the truth, and I’ve been doing it all my life. And defending this man for all the things he’s lied about over his years in Congress is despicable. It’s disgusting.”