The Senate showdown

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MARY REICHARD, HOST: It’s Thursday the 21st of May. 

You’re listening to WORLD Radio and we’re glad you’ve joined us today. 

Good morning, I’m Mary Reichard.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown.

First up on The World and Everything in It: Congress turns a corner on ICE funding and the Iran War.

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill have two days left before next week’s Memorial Day recess, and a full agenda.

WORLD’s Harrison Watters reports.

HARRISON WATTERS: Top of Republican leadership’s list is funding security enforcement agencies like Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection.

Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso:

BARRASSO: It’s called the Secure America Act.

The bill is not a typical piece of legislation requiring 60 votes to pass in the Senate. Republicans are instead using the process of budget reconciliation…that lets both chambers change existing spending laws with simple majority votes.

BARRASSO: It guarantees full funding for ICE and Border Patrol for the entire presidency of President Trump.

House Republicans are ready to follow the Senate’s lead ahead of the president’s June 1st deadline.

The process will allow Republicans to pass the legislation without any Democrat votes…but only after a voting period in which Democrats may offer as many amendments as they want.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer spoke before votes yesterday:

SCHUMER: Democrats are going to force Senate Republicans to vote on amendment after amendment about Trump’s ballroom, Trump’s slush fund, and the rising costs of Trump’s war.

The bill hit a snag earlier in the week related to the White House ballroom construction project. The Senate Parliamentarian ruled that a $1 billion line item in the Secret Service budget could not be used to fund security for the ballroom. President Trump has said private donors would fully fund construction… but a judge in April decided Congress needs to approve the project first. 

During a tour on Wednesday, President Trump said the goal is more than a ballroom.

TRUMP: They're building a hospital. They're building—it's a military hospital. They're building a, uh, all sorts of research facilities, also meeting rooms and rooms that go hand-in-hand for the military using the ballroom. And the ballroom is really a shield and protecting all of the things that are built here.

Senators will also continue debating a bill on Congress’s role in the Iran War. This comes after four Republicans joined most Democrats on Tuesday to open the discussion. 

The War Powers Resolution seeks to require the president to stop all military operations in the region…until Congress approves them.

CLERK: Mr. Cassidy. Mr. Cassidy, aye.

Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy—a Republican—cast the deciding vote on Tuesday to move the resolution forward. On Saturday, a Trump-backed primary challenger pushed him out of his reelection race.

The debate and eventual vote will be largely symbolic. Even if both chambers passed it, the president would be almost certain veto it. 

President Trump argues that hostilities ceased before the 60-day deadline imposed by the War Powers Act. He also says there’s still time on the clock if hostilities resume.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Harrison Watters.

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