Republicans eye votes on immigration, border security in upcoming ‘vote-a-rama’ reconciliation

Senate Republicans are looking to line up a series of votes on amendments related to immigration and border security in the upcoming “branch vote” on the budget reconciliation bill, moves that could put pressure on Democrats in tough re-election races . .

Democrats are trying to move a scaled-down social spending bill through the budget reconciliation process, which requires only 50 votes in the Senate to bypass the 60-vote filibuster, meaning it can pass without Republican support.

The bill includes prescription drug reform, major climate spending, expands benefits from the Affordable Care Act, and raises taxes, including on large corporations. The legislation follows more than a year of Democratic negotiations over passing a bill through a process called budget reconciliation to avoid a Senate filibuster.

The bill has been championed by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Joe Manchin, DW.Va. Manchin torpedoed last year’s nearly $3 trillion “Rebuild Better” proposals. Lawmakers have dubbed the new legislation the “Inflation Reduction Act” and said it would spend $433 billion but raise $739 billion in tax revenue.

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A split vote could give Republicans a chance to add immigration and border amendments to the budget reconciliation bill.
(AP Photo/J. David Ake)

But using the reconciliation process means the bill is open to a potentially unlimited number of amendments, and Republicans hope to take advantage of them.

With a border crisis raging that has not let up since it began last March, Republicans used a vote-a-rama in August to secure a series of tough votes for moderate Democrats on immigration, including funding for to border security and domestic immigration enforcement. Some of these measures received Democratic support.

A GOP Senate aide told Fox News Digital on Thursday that different offices are proposing “multiple” amendments on border and immigration issues.

Meanwhile, Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., told reporters he intends to introduce an amendment related to Title 42, the public health order that has been used to deport most migrants because of the COVID-19 pandemic since March. 2020. The Biden administration has been seeking to end the order, but has so far been blocked by a federal court. Republicans and some Democrats have called on the Biden administration to extend or even enshrine the order.

The votes could put moderate Democrats, some of whom have expressed support for Title 42 and additional funding for border security measures, in a position to break with others in their party and vote in favor of Republican-backed amendments. If that’s the case, there’s a risk that other Democrats will resist the additions, killing the legislation entirely.

It is a situation that has led Senator Bob Menendez, D-NJ., a key pillar of immigration, to sound the alarm to his fellow Democrats.

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“Passing amendments that would end asylum access or expand Trump’s border wall will not repair our broken immigration and will put reconciliation at risk,” he tweeted this week. “We must stand up for immigrant communities against the GOP’s plans to use reconciliation to divide us and advance Trump’s hateful and destructive policies toward immigrants.”

Schumer announced Thursday that the Senate will meet Saturday to hold a procedural vote to advance the reconciliation bill.

Fox News’ Tyler Olson contributed to this report.