A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Republican plans to fund immigration enforcement agencies for the rest of President Trump's term could include a billion dollars for security related to Trump's ballroom project. This is part of a $72 billion plan. NPR congressional reporter Eric McDaniel is here to tell us more.
So, Eric, Congress ended the longest agency shutdown in U.S. history last week by passing funding for the Department of Homeland Security. The new package is also about DHS funding. So why are Republicans working on another DHS bill?
ERIC MCDANIEL, BYLINE: Well, there's a long technical reason that has to do with the filibuster, but here's the bottom line. They couldn't get immigration enforcement funding through last time. Unless Republicans wanted the shutdown to go on even longer, they needed Democratic votes. Democrats refused to fund Immigrations and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol after federal law enforcement killed two Americans earlier this year. So Congress passed DHS funding for the rest of this year without that immigration money. Now, with just Republican votes, they're hoping to fund the rest of the agency, the immigration enforcement units, for three years - the rest of Trump's term. But that's a slower process that we'll see play out over the rest of this month.
MARTÍNEZ: OK. So how does money for the president's ballroom project fit into this latest proposal for this plan?
MCDANIEL: Well, it is funding for the Secret Service and targeted at how they will secure that part of the White House. And the money's not as surprising as it might seem. Secret Service is part of the Department of Homeland Security, just like ICE is. And I should note, the money's not for construction of the ballroom, which the White House says so far is funded through private donations. The bill specifically says that the money, in fact, cannot go to any non-security aspect, so no construction funds here. There have been some other long-shot proposals to use taxpayer dollars, but that's just not part of this DHS bill. Democrats are saying a vote on the bill, though, constitutes an up-or-down vote on the ballroom. So make of that what you will.
MARTÍNEZ: So if they're relying on just Republican votes, I mean, can they get any more of President Trump's policy priorities passed, such as money for the Iran war?
MCDANIEL: Yeah. They might try and expand this immigration enforcement bill to contain more. But my guess - and it's just a guess - is they're probably not going to do that when this whole process wraps up. Because Republicans have such narrow control in the House - as small as a single vote, depending on who is out sick that day - they probably tactically need to keep this as focused as possible to keep everyone among the House Republicans, among the Senate Republicans, on the same page. There are a lot of rank-and-file House lawmakers who want to go bigger.
MARTÍNEZ: OK. So what other things do they want to add?
MCDANIEL: Well, there's the SAVE America Act. That's Trump's proof-of-citizenship and election security bill. Some Republicans have also discussed adding affordability-focused provisions since this is a campaign year. But leadership is really pushing to keep it narrow, even though these budget bills do have a reputation, A, as Christmas trees, where everyone gets to tack on a shiny bauble. Speaker Mike Johnson says they'll do something flashier in a future budget bill that comes after this.
MARTÍNEZ: OK. And when is this going to get done?
MCDANIEL: Well, we'll know more by the end of next week about what will actually make it into the first draft of this proposal, and then all the fighting really starts. Not to mention they also have to figure out a farm bill - there's a fight over ethanol and gasoline that's part of that - and Iran war votes and also reauthorize a key spy tool. That's Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that they've had to use stopgap extension after stopgap extension between - because Republicans can't reach agreement on it. So this three-year immigration funding bill will have to happen alongside it all.
MARTÍNEZ: All right. That's NPR congressional reporter Eric McDaniel. Eric, thanks.
MCDANIEL: Thank you, A. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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