House passes 215-211 budget blueprint to fund ICE and Border Patrol via reconciliation

After more than five hours of floor negotiations, the House votes 215-211 along party lines to adopt the Senate's budget reconciliation framework, unlocking the process for Republicans to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection without Democratic support. Rep. Kevin Kiley (I-CA) votes present. It is the slimmest possible victory for Speaker Johnson with a 217-212 majority. The vote is the first step — not the final appropriation — in a two-track Republican strategy to end a 74-day partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security. Committees now have until May 15 to draft a reconciliation bill that will direct roughly $70 billion to ICE and CBP for the remainder of Trump's term through approximately 2027. A separate appropriations bill to fund the rest of DHS — which passed the Senate with bipartisan support in March — still must clear the House. The vote is delayed for hours by a revolt from roughly two dozen Midwestern Republicans furious that Speaker Johnson decoupled E15 ethanol provisions from the upcoming farm bill. Johnson holds the vote open and negotiates on the floor before agreeing to a standalone vote on E15 at a later date. Democrats, united in opposition, argue the agencies could be funded immediately if the The House passed the Senate's bipartisan DHS bill.