Trump doubles down on Iran, immigration

President Donald Trump is pairing a harder line on Iran with a new Senate push to pour more money into immigration enforcement. (cnbc.com) Before dawn on Thursday, April 23, the Senate voted 50-48 to adopt a budget resolution aimed at unlocking about $70 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol over the next three years. Republicans said the money would move later through budget reconciliation, which lets a bill pass with a simple majority instead of 60 votes. (cnbc.com, cbsnews.com) Two Republicans, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, voted no. Senate Republicans hold a 53-47 majority, and the resolution now goes to the House before committees can write the spending bill that Trump would have to sign. (usnews.com, cnbc.com) The funding fight grew out of a partial Department of Homeland Security shutdown that began in mid-February 2026. Reuters reported that most of the department has been without full funding for more than nine weeks while Democrats demanded new limits on Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol operations. (usnews.com, congress.gov) Democrats tied those demands to two fatal shootings of U.S. citizens by immigration enforcement agents in Minneapolis in January. They pushed for rules that would require judicial warrants before agents enter private homes and would subject federal immigration agents to standards closer to those used by local police. (usnews.com, cfr.org) Sen. Alex Padilla of California said on March 12 that Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection did not need “another blank check” and called for accountability instead. Republicans, led by Budget Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, said they were moving a targeted budget resolution to “fully fund Border Patrol and ICE.” (padilla.senate.gov, lgraham.senate.gov) Trump’s immigration push is unfolding alongside a more aggressive Iran policy formalized in an executive order on February 6 and followed by military action the White House says produced a ceasefire by April 8. In White House statements, the administration said Iran agreed to a ceasefire and to reopen the Strait of Hormuz after Operation Epic Fury. (whitehouse.gov, whitehouse.gov) That puts Trump’s two priorities on the same track in late April: more money for deportation operations at home and a continued show of force abroad. The next test is in the House, where Republicans need to adopt the budget blueprint before they can turn it into law. (cnbc.com, cbsnews.com)