General Discussion

Historically, ICE/CBP funding ran through annual appropriations, which meant it had to be renewed and Democrats had leverage each cycle.

The reconciliation funding last year was a somewhat novel move—it created a separate stream of funding that isn’t tied to annual appropriations, which is why ICE kept getting paid during the shutdown while TSA did not.

How long that funding lasts depends on how it was written, but the key point is that it can cover multiple years or be large enough upfront to reduce the need for near-term appropriations.

A second reconciliation bill was widely considered dead until this became the cleanest way out of the shutdown, which is exactly what makes this outcome so counterproductive.

That’s why this matters: by shifting the fight out of appropriations and into reconciliation, we’re moving it into a process where Democrats have little to no leverage and where funding can be maximally structured to last beyond a single cycle.