Republican Continuing Resolution Allows Billions for Border Patrol with No Reforms
FACT SHEET: House Republican Continuing Resolution Opens Door for Trump to Give More Money to Lawless Border Patrol
The final 2026 Homeland Security funding bill (PL119-86) passed unopposed – by voice vote – because of a bipartisan agreement that zeroed out funding for ICE and Border Patrol and prohibited the transfer of funds to those agencies.
The House Republican continuing resolution fails to include that prohibition for the Border Patrol, meaning any – or all – funds provided for other components of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) under the continuing resolution could be transferred to the Border Patrol at the discretion of Secretary Mullin.
Public Law 119-86 Sec. 4 states: “amounts specified in the ‘‘Final Bill’’ column under the sub-heading ‘‘Border Security Operations’’ under the heading ‘‘U.S. Customs and Border Protection’’ and under the heading ‘‘U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’’ in the ‘‘Department of Homeland Security Act, 2026’’ table shall all be $0.”
This language is removed by the House Republicans’ continuing resolution.
House Democrats informed Republicans of this apparent oversight and drafted a technical correction. Republicans refused to include the correction, choosing instead to give Secretary Mullin authority to transfer billions more taxpayer dollars to the Border Patrol, on top of the $80.6 billion they have already received through reconciliation.
In recent weeks, immigration agents have shot and killed residents in Texas and Maine, neither of whom were the target of enforcement operations.
These incidents highlight the urgent need for major reforms to keep our communities safe from violence. It is dangerous to provide more funding for these lawless agencies without new protections.
House Republican Continuing Resolution Fails to Account for Changing Funding Needs
Congress often does not consider continuing resolutions this early in the year for a very simple reason: funding needs change.
House Republicans are putting the cart before the horse by considering this legislation without knowing the full scope of what is needed to continue operations through December 4.
On Monday afternoon – three days after the Republican continuing resolution was introduced – Congress received a rough first draft from the White House of potential requirements to sustain government operations for a continuing resolution into December. These proposals (called anomalies) indicate potentially serious issues left unaddressed by the Republican funding bill, including:
- Funding shortfalls for public housing agencies to maintain housing assistance for tens of thousands of households
- USDA programs to help address utility costs in rural communities
- Funding cuts to wildland fire suppression operations
The Committee is in the process of reviewing the full list of anomalies, and Congress should not simply ignore these proposals.
Partisan Process with No Negotiation
Republicans dropped this resolution on Friday afternoon without any bipartisan negotiation. Had Democrats been consulted, there are several provisions that could have been included to strengthen the bill and protect Congressional prerogatives, including the reversal of a proposed federal rule from the Office of Management and Budget that allows political appointees in the Trump administration to unilaterally block or terminate grant funding if they deem it insufficiently in line with the president’s policy priorities.
The decision to pursue this path without any bipartisan negotiation shows House Republicans do not consider this a serious effort to prevent a government shutdown.