Congress returned from a 2-week recess to begin work on a new reconciliation bill intended to provide 3 years of funding for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to end the current partial Department of Homeland Security shutdown. The Republican Congressional majority is turning to the reconciliation process, which is the same procedural vehicle used to pass H.R. 1/One Big Beautiful Bill Act, because it bypasses the Senate filibuster and can pass both chambers of Congress without requiring Democratic votes. 

Cost-saving changes to federal health programs could once again be used as an offset for non-health care spending. The critical considerations are the scope of the legislation, and whether new spending needs to be paid for at all. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) has stated that he prefers a “skinny” reconciliation bill which only addresses ICE and CBP funding. With that approach, there is precedent that the legislation should be considered regular appropriations, which would not necessitate corresponding offsets, and may even win a handful of Democratic votes. However, there are several Republican Senators, and dozens of House Members, who would like to see a more expansive reconciliation bill with additional defense spending, tax reform and other economic policies, which would threaten to return federal health programs to the chopping block. 

The President has set a deadline of June 1st to send the reconciliation bill to his desk. Reconciliation is a multi-step process and, with neither chamber of Congress having more than 20 in-session days before the deadline, Congressional leadership will have to settle on the framework of reconciliation in short order.