The Senate is racing to pass a three-bill funding package and finish processing the Venezuela war powers resolution ahead of a scheduled recess.
But it’s going to take a lot of cooperation from both sides and deft maneuvering by Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who will likely need to allow a number of amendment votes in order to speed up final passage of the FY2026 funding measure.
“We’re going to stay here until we get it done,” Thune told us Monday.
A bipartisan group of senators is heading to Denmark on Thursday evening amid President Donald Trump’s threats toward Greenland. Other CODELs are planned, too.
War powers. After five Republicans joined Democrats in voting to advance a war powers resolution for Venezuela last week, there was some concern that completing the floor process would complicate Thune’s bid to pass the minibus funding bill before the recess.
But Democrats signaled on Monday that they’re willing to move more quickly to final passage.
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), who’s leading the war powers resolution, said Democrats may not offer any amendments as part of a limited vote-a-rama that comes before final passage of any war powers measure. Thune said he expects this to happen on Wednesday.
Kaine said he’s spoken with all five Republicans — who drew Trump’s wrath last week — and didn’t expect any defections on final passage. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), for example, said her position was unchanged after Trump fumed at her over the phone.
But Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) said he got calls from Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who tried to sway his vote. Hawley wouldn’t say if he plans on switching his position, but sounded more amenable to some of the administration’s arguments.
Funding. Thune will likely need to hold votes on a number of amendments to the minibus — which includes the Energy and Water, Commerce-Justice-Science and Interior bills — in order to secure a time agreement to pass it by Thursday.
An amendment from Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) could be problematic. Heinrich wants to strike a previously-passed provision that allows senators to sue for $500,000 if their phone records are surveilled.
There’s broad bipartisan support for scrapping that provision, but passing Heinrich’s amendment would mean the funding package needs to be sent back to the House. GOP leaders want to avoid this.
Collins, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, said she supports repealing that provision but also doesn’t want to trigger a House re-vote.
Meanwhile, the fatal shooting of Renee Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis is making it much harder for appropriators to agree on a Department of Homeland Security spending bill. Sen. Chris Murphy (Conn.), the top Democratic appropriator for DHS, said Democrats should demand that any money DHS spends will be spent lawfully.
Murphy also doesn’t want a continuing resolution, which he said “doesn’t do anything to constrain the way that they’re acting lawlessly.”
If appropriators can reach an agreement on DHS funding, the House could vote on the bill next week along with Labor-HHS, Defense and Transportation-HUD, House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) said. Otherwise, lawmakers will need to pass a CR.
