SBLC May 2026 Update

FY 2026 DHS Appropriations: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been unfunded for 73 days.  As noted in last week’s Hill Update, the administration announced that it cannot continue to pay DHS employees past the end of this month absent enactment of appropriations.

A number of House Republicans, including members of the far-right Freedom Caucus, have warned that they will not vote for the Senate-passed FY 2026 DHS partial appropriations bill until the budget reconciliation bill, which will fund the Department’s immigration enforcement agencies, has advanced quite far along in the legislative process.  But Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) hopes that if the House can pass the Senate’s FY 2027 budget resolution (the first step in moving a reconciliation bill), that will demonstrate enough progress to convince his conference to pass the DHS appropriations bill.  It is possible that the attack at the White House Correspondents Association dinner last weekend will add to the pressure to fund the Department.

Reconciliation 2.0 Begins: The Senate Budget Committee released its FY 2027 budget resolution last Tuesday.  The measure instructs the Homeland Security and Judiciary Committees to separately report changes to laws within their jurisdiction that increase the deficit by up to $70 billion over ten years.  The instructed committees are expected to implement the reconciliation instructions by funding ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection for the remainder of President Trump’s term.

The Senate passed the budget resolution by a vote of 50-48 after just over 30 hours of debate and vote-a-rama.  Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Rand Paul (R-KY) were the only Republicans to cross party-lines and vote against the measure.  Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and John Warner (D-VA) did not vote.  The chamber unanimously agreed to adopt one amendment to the budget resolution that would establish deficit-neutral funding for the apprehension and deportation of illegal aliens convicted of rape, murder, or sexual abuse of a minor.  It rejected fifteen other amendments, even though some had Republican support, including:

• Nine amendments offered by various Democratic senators highlighting affordability issues relating to:  the cost of prescription drugs, out-of-pocket healthcare costs, home electricity, childcare, groceries, and rent; hedge fund ownership of single-family homes; price increases associated with tariffs and spending on the Iran war; and federal funding for school meal programs

• An amendment offered by Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) to prevent health insurance companies from delaying or denying coverage

• An amendment offered by Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) that would have prohibited reconciliation funding to any agency that has unobligated funds from prior reconciliation bills

• An amendment offered by Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) to establish a deficit-neutral reserve fund for FEMA public assistance and hazard mitigation programs

• An amendment offered by Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) that would instruct the Rules Committee to write election legislation requiring proof of citizenship and identification to vote

• An amendment offered by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) to extend the prohibition of Medicaid payments to abortion providers

• An amendment offered by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) that would have required the reconciliation bill to include revenue raising offsets from cuts to foreign aid, refugee spending, education spending, and National Science Foundation funding

If the House can pass an identical budget resolution, the instructed committees will begin drafting legislation.  If the House passes a budget resolution that differs in any way, the Senate might have to embark on another round of debate and vote-a-rama.

Speaker Mike Johnson and House Republican leadership plan to release a framework this week for a third reconciliation bill, hoping that they can keep the 2.0 bill very skinny by showing their commitment to enact additional partisan tax and spending provisions later this year.

FY 2027 Appropriations: Last Tuesday, House appropriators voted on allocations for six of the annual appropriations bills.  Allocation numbers serve as guidelines for appropriations subcommittees to write their bills, but the totals likely will change as lawmakers negotiate final appropriations.  Allocations have not been announced for the bills considered harder to negotiate, such as Defense and Labor-Health and Human Services, and which make up the lion’s share of discretionary spending.

House appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole (R-OK) hopes that Republicans will report out all 12 appropriations bills by July 4.  There is little to no chance that any of those bills will pass the Senate.

FISA Sec. 702 Extension: This week, House Republicans will try for a third time to pass an extension of surveillance authorities provided in section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) before they expire on Thursday.   House GOP leaders released their latest legislative proposal last Thursday.  New proposed reforms build on provisions included in the prior version of the bill, rejected by the House on April 17, including some new checks on 702 queries involving U.S. citizens and enhanced criminal penalties for abuses of surveillance authorities.  Notably, the bill still does not include the two demands articulated by far-right Republicans:  a strict warrant requirement and language to prohibit the Federal Reserve from issuing a digital currency.  The bill would extend surveillance authorities for three years.   Top House Democrats say they were not consulted on the new draft, and that they will not even consider supporting it on the floor as a result (but there are Democrats who support extension of section 702).  Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) plans to bring up the measure under a rule, which means that he will have to find the votes to pass the rule before the chamber can vote on the bill itself.   If the House cannot move the bill, the Senate is prepared to pass its own version this week.   Iran War: Senate Republicans blocked consideration of another Iran War Powers resolution last week – this one offered by Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI).  Sens. Rand Paul (R-KY) and John Fetterman (D-PA) were the only members to cross party lines on the failed procedural vote.   House Party Ratios: Last week, Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL) resigned from Congress shortly before the House Ethics Committee was scheduled to recommend sanctions against her for campaign finance violations.  (Following her resignation, the Committee lost jurisdiction over her case.)  Also, Rep. David Scott (D-GA) sadly passed away.  Party ratios in the House are now 218 Republicans to 212 Democrats, and Republicans again have two-vote majority.

House: This week, the House schedule contemplates votes on four measures under a rule, requiring simple majority support for passage, including the FISA section 702 reauthorization bill (S. 1318) and the Senate-passed budget resolution (S. Con. Res. 33), both discussed above, the farm bill (H.R. 7567), and the Stopping Indoctrination and Protecting Kids Act (H.R. 2616).   The schedule also includes 13 bills for consideration under suspension of the rules, requiring two-thirds majority support for passage.  Twelve of those bills are out of the Ways and Means Committee.  Several of those would implement tax administration improvements, including the Taxpayer Due Process Enhancement Act (H.R. 6506), the BARCODE Efficiency Act (H.R. 6956), the Taxpayer Experience Improvement Act (H.R. 7971), the IRS Whistleblower Improvement Act (H.R. 7959), and the Taxpayer Notification and Privacy Act (H.R. 6495).  Additionally, the Doug LaMalfa Federal Disaster Tax Relief Certainty Act (H.R. 5366) would provide tax relief to individuals affected by federally-declared disasters; the Survivor Justice Tax Prevention Act (H.R. 2347) would exclude from gross income any damages, other than punitive damages, received by victims of sexual abuse; the SEED Act (H.R. 5334) would provide tax relief to early childhood educators by allowing them to claim a federal tax deduction for classroom supplies; the Ensuring Children Receive Support Act (H.R. 6903) would mandate the revocation of U.S. passports for individuals with child support arrears exceeding $2,500; the New Opportunities for Business Ownership and Self-Sufficiency Act (H.R. 6431) would modify rules governing state administration of self-employment assistance programs; the Clergy Act (H.R. 227) would allow clergy members to revoke their exemption from Social Security coverage; and H.R. 4930 would expand the sharing of information with respect to suspected violations of intellectual property rights in trade.  The final bill on the list, H.R. 8364, would authorize an increase of the retirement age for United States Capitol Police.   Democrats likely will try to force a vote on another Iran War Powers resolution (H. Con. Res. 75) as the war hits the 60-day mark later this week.   King Charles will address a joint session of Congress tomorrow.   Senate: The Senate will vote on the confirmation of Trump administration nominees this week.  If the House fails to pass an extension of FISA section 702, the Senate will move its own bill to a floor vote