Congress

Trump’s deportation promise hinges on GOP delivering megabill

Published

1 year ago

May 5, 2025

President Donald Trump’s ability to accelerate his lagging deportations agenda hinges on congressional Republicans figuring out what they’re going to cut to pay for it.

White House border czar Tom Homan has pleaded with GOP lawmakers for more money for months as the White House has struggled to launch the mass deportation campaign the president promised. Top administration officials have been in close touch with Blue Light News about the figures they need to ramp up removals.

Republicans appear ready to give the White House more than officials have asked for. The House and Senate proposals would allow the committees that oversee immigration to spend between $200 billion and $350 billion — as Homan has projected the deportation effort would cost $86 billion to execute.

Republicans agree with the idea of plowing billions into the president’s No. 1 campaign pledge. But that money is out of reach, as lawmakers struggle to agree on cuts to pay for the huge increase in spending plus the extension of the tax breaks Trump signed into law during his last term.

A Department of Homeland Security memo last month warned House and Senate Republicans that failure to pass the legislation would “undo all the Trump Administration’s Massive Successes.” And the president’s budget outline released Friday further underscored where the White House is pressuring lawmakers to land: Trump called for a 65 percent increase in funding for border security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, even as he’s seeking major cuts across the federal government.

“It’s No. 1 for those guys … what we want is what they want,” said House Homeland Security Chair Mark Green (R-Tenn.). “We all want to get this done … we’re going full speed.”

The funding would turbocharge ICE with an unprecedented influx of cash, allowing the Trump administration to hire thousands of more agents and expand detention capacity across the country. It would also flow to private contractors as the Trump administration looks to outsource some of the deportation process by helping track down migrants and detaining them in for-profit detention facilities.

Trump’s vow to quickly remove millions of undocumented immigrants from the country has faced a number of roadblocks. The administration has run up against a bogged-down immigration court system as well as challenges with detention space and staffing, spreading ICE agents thin as they work to deport 1 million undocumented immigrants this year — four times as many as last year.

“We should understand that until they have that money and can start to spend that money, no one should really think that they can start raising the deportation numbers that much,” said Michael Kagan, director of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Immigration Clinic. “They need that money, and that is the first step for expanding detention space.”

The House GOP proposal recommends tens of billions of dollars for detention facilities and the hiring and retention of immigration enforcement personnel — paving the way for the kind of historic crackdown immigration hardliners have long pushed for.

“You’re going to be able to build a wall. You’re going to have detention facilities, deportation, all of that stuff,” said Michael Hough, director of federal relations at NumbersUSA, a group that works to reduce both legal and illegal immigration. “This would be huge, historic.”

ICE says it has deported roughly 65,700 immigrants since Trump took office, though the deportation numbers have been questioned by experts. The agency has reported 66,500 arrests since January, claiming that three of four were undocumented immigrants with criminal records.

So far this year, the Trump administration’s monthly deportation pace has been lower than that of the Biden administration at the same time last year. That’s in part because it’s easier to deport people arrested at the border than those apprehended inside the country, and the number of people crossing the border has continued to plummet since Trump took office.

“They’ve had tremendous success in securing the border. We just want to make sure they can continue to do that,” said House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio).

But more money won’t resolve all of Trump’s challenges — and “arresting and detaining more people” does not automatically result in more removals, said Deborah Fleischaker, former acting chief of staff for ICE during the Biden administration. Home countries of many migrants — especially those who committed crimes — don’t always want to take them back. That’s part of the reason the Trump administration has entered a deal with El Salvador to accept deportees from the U.S. and is now in talks with other countries in addition.

It also takes time and resources to hire, vet and train more agents, and new detention facilities won’t be up and running overnight. The president’s rhetoric has spurred fear across communities, with many immigrants seeking legal aid and going into hiding.

“We’re a long ways away from 100,000 beds and a million removals. A million removals, that’s like 30,000 removals a week,” said an ICE official, granted anonymity to speak candidly. During “the previous three administrations, the removal stats were juiced because of all the people crossing the border. A million removals from the interior requires a million arrests. And now everyone is actively hiding and thwarting us.”

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has set an ambitious July 4 deadline for the passage of the GOP megabill, which they hope to enact via fast-track budget procedures that will allow them to sidestep a Democratic filibuster. A number of committees are still hammering out their plans, including politically complicated cuts to Medicaid, and the House and Senate will need to reach a consensus on their proposals.

The House Judiciary Committee proposed raising revenue via a host of new fees on those who apply through the legal immigration system, including a first-of-its-kind minimum $1,000 fee for asylum seekers and $3,500 fee for sponsors of unaccompanied children.

Democrats, for their part, have virtually no means to block the bill’s passage, assuming the GOP can stay aligned.

But unlike Trump’s first term, during which a border wall funding fight prompted the longest-ever government shutdown, Democrats have so far not focused on the immigration and border provisions in their attacks on the bill. Instead they are spotlighting the potential cuts to government programs. During a committee markup, Democrats on the House Homeland Security Committee were largely silent about the tens of billions of dollars the committee’s bill allocates for the border wall system.

Congress

The Freedom Caucus is losing its stalwarts. Here’s who to watch next.

Published

3 hours ago

June 15, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

After more than a decade at the center of GOP politics on Capitol Hill, the House Freedom Caucus is suddenly confronting an unsettled future.

Several of the hard-right bloc’s most prominent members are leaving Congress next year after seeking higher office — including a former chair, Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona, and several media-friendly voices such as Reps. Chip Roy of Texas, Byron Donalds of Florida and Ralph Norman of South Carolina, among others.

“We’re losing a lot of talent — there’s no doubt about it,” Rep. Eli Crane of Arizona said. “So it’s just kind of like a next-man-up mentality.”

But which man is very much in question. The current chair, Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland, is term-limited, and a new generation of combative ultraconservatives is ready to step in just as the caucus comes to terms with a potentially changing role on Capitol Hill.

The group will be facing twin challenges — a potential shift to a Democratic House majority, which has historically made the caucus less pivotal, and the looming transition to a Republican Party without a President Donald Trump, who has been an animating force for most of its members.

“Across the country, people know who the Freedom Caucus is,” said Rep. Clay Higgins of Louisiana. “The next couple of years is going to be important for the caucus.”

The group has reinvented itself in the past, with new leaders emerging as old members move on. Donalds recalled when former chair Mark Meadows of North Carolina departed for the White House in Trump’s first term.

“They’re like, ‘Well, what’s going to be the future of HFC?’ And in came Chip Roy, in came a Byron Donalds,” he said with a grin. “We just kind of kept it going.”

The only founding member still serving in the House is Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, who could make a play for minority leader if Republicans lose the majority in November — further scrambling the caucus’ historic role as a hard-right vanguard.

Harris will remain a member, as will fellow former chair Scott Perry of Pennsylvania — if he can win what’s expected to be a competitive general-election race. Veteran members such as Reps. Michael Cloud and Keith Self of Texas will also be influential.

But a number of relatively obscure members are ready to make moves and become the new faces of the hard right in the House.

Eric Burlison

Rep. Eric Burlison (R-Mo.) speaks with reporters outside the U.S. Capitol Sept. 8, 2025.

Rep. Eric Burlison of Missouri is in his second term but has shown an unmistakable thirst to be at the center of the action since arriving in the House. Currently an HFC board member, Burlinson said he is considering running to be the next chair.

“You obviously have to be selected by your peers, and that would be the greatest honor,” he said in an interview. “There’s no one I respect more than the people that are members of HFC.”

He spent over a decade in the Missouri statehouse before heading to Congress, after working as a software consultant. Last summer he was a vocal member pushing for the full release of the Epstein files and has become a leading Republican pushing for more information on UFOs.

Burlison noted that a future chair will be inheriting a nationally recognized Freedom Caucus “brand” that includes a plethora of state-level and local groups that have adopted the name. He said the original HFC should look at ways to “leverage” that brand but also protect it from being adopted by groups that aren’t in line with its conservative vision.

“We have to kind of protect our image,” he said. ”So I think we need to get that figured out.”

Andrew Clyde

Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) is seen during a House Budget Committee markup of a budget reconciliation bill on Capitol Hill May 18, 2025.

Rep. Andrew Clyde of Georgia has managed to amass significant power by Freedom Caucus standards by winning seats on the Appropriations and Budget committees, which have allowed him to push for conservative positions on those influential panels.

Clyde, another board member, said in an interview he had not yet thought about running for chair but noted that “you don’t have to be the chairman to have outsized influence.”

He added that while the group is losing some high-profile members, the president’s conservative agenda has attracted several likely incoming members to the group.

“We’re seeing some folks that have not supported the Freedom Caucus before that are coming on board to support the House Freedom Caucus,” Clyde said. “So I think you’ll see [an] even greater presence.”

Brandon Gill

Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Texas) speaks with reporters as he departs a House Republican Conference meeting at the U.S. Capitol on March 25, 2026.

Rep. Brandon Gill of Texas, a freshman and the youngest sitting House Republican, is already seen as a rising star inside the House GOP. He has said he wants to emulate Jordanand has a seat on Judiciary, the committee his governing idol chairs.

Gill has made a name for himself through provocative social media posts, regular appearances on Fox News and splashy legislative moves such as seeking to impeach James Boasberg, the federal judge who ruled against some of Trump’s deportations last year.

He does not, however, break with GOP leaders as often as some other Freedom Caucus members and could encounter internal doubts as to whether he’d be willing to play internal hardball in the same way as prior chairs.

Clay Higgins

Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.), a House impeachment manager, walks to the Senate chamber for proceedings on the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas at the U.S. Capitol April 17, 2024.

Higgins is one of the more senior Freedom Caucus members — and one of the more controversial. The former sheriff has been a prominent proponent of conspiracy theories around the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack and he was the only lawmaker to oppose the release of the Epstein files.

Also currently a board member, he said in an interview he has not ruled out seeking the caucus chair post. But he also said he was “not interested in campaigning” for the job and would like to see a “peaceful transition.”

Higgins did boast having “a pretty solid reputation within the caucus as a thoughtful conservative” and is hoping the group focuses more on policymaking in its next iteration rather than obstructing leadership prerogatives.

“We’re either going to go deeper into being a meaningful, effective conservative faction for the entire country, or we could bounce in the other direction and be more like protesters in the parking lot,” he said.

Andy Ogles

Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) walks to a vote at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, on April 20, 2026.

Rep. Andy Ogles of Tennessee has been a controversy magnet in the wider political sphere — known for a long-running campaign finance investigation that was recently dropped by the Justice Department and a series of offensive public statements on Muslims, immigrants and other groups.

But inside the Freedom Caucus, he has emerged as a serious force over two terms, with his name floated for chair even before the end of his first term. He did not rule out running for chair or another caucus leadership position in a recent interview.

“All I care about is winning,” Ogles said, referring to the caucus agenda. “If I’m better in a second or tertiary role, that’s what I’ll do to make sure we deliver on the president’s agenda. If that means I’m the chairman, then so be it.”

Ogles said the upcoming turnover represents a good opportunity to renew and potentially rethink how the group operates: “We’re going into the presidential. Sometimes you need fresh ideas, fresh faces.”

Congress

House Oversight requests Alan Dershowitz testify in Epstein probe

Published

3 days ago

June 12, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

The House Oversight Committee requested that Alan Dershowitz, the lawyer who once represented Jeffery Epstein, testify as part of its investigation into the federal government’s handling of the Epstein files.

The interview is tentatively slated for 10 a.m. on July 9, with a video and transcript of the testimony being released “as expeditiously as practical,” Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) wrote in a letter to Dershowitz on Friday.

“Due to public reporting, documents released by the Department of Justice, documents obtained by the Committee, and your former role as Mr. Epstein’s attorney, the Committee believes you have information that will assist in its investigation,” Comer wrote.

Comer told reporters on Wednesday that he wanted to hear from Dershowitz, who helped Epstein secure a controversial plea deal in his 2008 sex abuse case.

“I’m looking forward to testifying,” Dershowitz wrote in a text message to Blue Light News on Friday, adding that he is “trying to adjust my schedule” for July 9.

Congress

Cornyn tells Mike Lee to lay off John Thune

Published

3 days ago

June 12, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Sen. John Cornyn isn’t a card-carrying member of the Senate GOP’s growing YOLO caucus. But with less than seven months left in office after losing his primary, the Texas Republican appears to be feeling newly free to speak his mind.

The latest clap-back came Thursday night and the early hours of Friday morning, when Cornyn called a conservative influencer a “grifter” and told Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) on social media to stop publicly blaming fellow Republicans — including Senate Majority Leader John Thune — for the fact that the GOP elections bill doesn’t have support to pass inside the party.

“You don’t have the votes” for the SAVE America Act, Cornyn posted on X. “@LeaderJohnThune can’t change that. It is math.”

He was directing his comments at Lee, who had just penned a post telling Thune, “let’s do this!”

Cornyn continued, “Try focusing on Democrats instead of Republicans. Republican on Republican attacks are hurting our chances to win the majority in November.”

Lee responded to ask, “on what planet is this an attack on Republicans?” and appeared to suggest a staffer was tweeting on Cornyn’s behalf: “Once my friend John Cornyn realizes that you’re saying this in his name—whoever you are—I don’t think he’ll be happy with you.”

Cornyn, however, is known for posting himself on his social media accounts in a chamber where many Senate accounts are run solely by staff. And he’s been making it clear all week that he will push back on Trump and his party when he thinks it’s needed.

In multiple conversations with reporters in the Capitol, Cornyn said that Republicans need to “stop the circular firing squad.” And he added that he won’t intentionally be “a thorn in [Trump’s] side,” but he’s also “not going to go out of my way to try to appease him.”

“I want him to succeed, I want the Republican Party to succeed, I want the country to succeed,” Cornyn said this week. “But on a case-by-case basis, when I think there’s been overreach or just a bad idea, I’m not going to hesitate to weigh in.”

The four-term senator’s comments come after he lost his primary last month to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who Trump endorsed in the final days of the runoff.

Cornyn said in an interview with The New York Times that he was not a “wounded bear” but that he believed Trump’s insistence on “slavish adherence” was going to backfire for Republicans in the midterms and result in “the most miserable two years of his life” if Democrats flip the House or Senate.

“I think it is going to be a pretty bumpy ride for the next seven months,” Cornyn said.