▶ 0:14:58Chair Cassidy: The committee will come to order. Pursuant to the notice issued on may 12, 2026, the committee will consider reconciliation today. The most basic responsibility of the federal government is to protect our national borders. Even the most ardent advocate for smaller and less intrusive federal government and in the senate, there is no one more ardent than me, can agree with that.
▶ 0:15:28Chair Cassidy: But it appears we found the senate democrats love for government as all but one refused for a single dollar -- refused to vote for a single dollar. As long as I am chairman, this committee will not let senate democrats brought paychecks from border patrol and other law enforcement. We will not let them shutdown inspections for fentanyl, weapons, or nuclear material.
▶ 0:15:55Chair Cassidy: And we will not stand idly by when they defund the introduction of child sex trafficking across the border. Today we will vote to fund all of those functions of the border patrol and ice. This is as straightforward a vote as you will ever get on securing the border. There is no extraneous spending in this bill. There are no controversial policy buyers attached. This is not a spending bill dropped -- mega spending bill dropped in our laps in the middle of the night.
▶ 0:16:26Chair Cassidy: You cannot say you support securing our border and vote against this bill. The process democrats have forced us into is an imperfect one. Reconciliation was intended to cut spending and balance a budget, not to increase spending or even fund the ongoing operations of government. One consequence of using this process is we cannot include policy changes, even the widely supported reforms agreed to by the president to address the problems.
▶ 0:16:55Chair Cassidy: No republican is more open to reform or willing to question abuses that I have. I held a hearing to examine dhs practices in the wake of the shooting of american citizens in minnesota earlier this year. I held a hearing on the attempts to stifle one civil right, the second amendment, when exercising one's first amendment rights. I support reforms, but the past senate democrats have forced us into will leave all of those issues unaddressed. They have no one to blame but themselves.
▶ 0:17:24Chair Cassidy: Finally, before we get started voting come I want to make it clear to those watching from home what is about to happen. You are about to see democrats offer amendments to this bill that sound good. They will say they are just trying to at a reasonable sounding policy to the bill. Many of us on the republican side will probably even agree with some of these policies, but the democrats are really trying to kill the bill and thus block funding for the border patrol. None of their amendments have been approved by the parliamentarian.
▶ 0:17:54Chair Cassidy: As I explained earlier, the budget process they are forcing us to use does not allow major policy changes, no matter how desirable. So everything they offer is an attempt to kill the bill. If they really wanted reforms, they would have supported funding in the regular appropriation process, which would have included reforms to I.c.e. At any time earlier this year. But here we are. The only vote you will be to watch, the vote to fund border patrol and law enforcement, is the last one.
▶ 0:18:25Chair Cassidy: Senator peters.
▶ 0:18:25Sen. Peters: Thank you, chairman paul. As congress, our number one job is to come together, make bipartisan decisions, and pass legislation that adequately funds the missions and the services that the american people count on. As members of this committee, our top responsibility is to conduct oversight of the administration, ensure the government is using taxpayer dollars effectively, and address all of the threats to our homeland security.
▶ 0:18:56Sen. Peters: This congress, this committee has failed to convene the annual threats to the homeland hearing or hearings on cybersecurity threats or terrorism threats or disaster response, all areas where this committee is responsible for ensuring our nation is prepared for a worst-case scenario. Mr. chairman, given the legislation we are considering today, I do want to acknowledge the really productive oversight hearing that we had in february.
▶ 0:19:27Sen. Peters: We were there. We examined the tactics and excessive use of force that some, some department of homeland security law enforcement personnel had been using on our streets, including the deaths of renée good and alex pretti. I was proud of that hearing, and there seemed to be real concern from members on both sides of the aisle about addressing abuses by those law enforcement officers.
▶ 0:19:54Sen. Peters: This is why I am so disappointed that none of the reforms we have been discussing for months are included in this bill. In fact, we are doing this whole irresponsible and hyper-partisan spending exercise because the republican majority does not want to pass common sense reforms that would reign in I.c.e. And hold agencies accountable.
▶ 0:20:17Sen. Peters: On top of that, with the president's war of choice in iran, we are at even a higher risk of cyber attacks or terrorist attacks. These are serious threats that our committee should be pushing the administration to focus on. All of this is happening at a time when americans are facing rising costs for food and fuel, also because of the president's war with iran. Republicans control the house, the senate, and the white house.
▶ 0:20:47Sen. Peters: And they have taken zero, zero action to lower cost for americans. This committee and this administration seem to be focused on all the wrong things, and I am disappointed that the first real legislative markup this committee is holding this year, we are almost halfway through it, we are considering bipartisan legislation to address these concerns.
▶ 0:21:12Sen. Peters: Instead, our republican colleagues are once again on a track to rubberstamp billions of dollars for the department of homeland security, no strings attached, and this time, it is for the rest of the trump presidency. So I want to be clear. It is not because a bipartisan deal cannot be reached. It is because our republican colleagues are refusing to stand up to president trump and his extreme out of touch agenda.
▶ 0:21:40Sen. Peters: There is no clear example of the thick list -- ficklessness then the $1 billion to build the president's goldplated ballroom, a ballroom the president promised would only be paid with private donations. Clearly he lied.
▶ 0:22:01Sen. Peters: The senate would never be built with taxpayer money, and that $1 billion can be put to a lot better use immediately giving hard-working families really from skyrocketing energy bills, grocery costs, housing costs. It is time to stand up to the president's ridiculous demands. It is time for the committee to do its job and conduct oversight of the administration, especially the department of homeland security.
▶ 0:22:27Sen. Peters: My democratic colleagues and I will be offering several amendments today to make much-needed changes and right at the department so we can be prepared for any of the threats facing our nation. I would urge my republican colleagues to give this amendments serious consideration instead of just rubberstamping the president's self-serving agenda.
▶ 0:22:50Chair Paul: I would like to correct the record for those who will be voting on this bill. There is no money in this for the ballroom. The $1 billion for the secret service is not in the bill we will be voting on today. The committee will now proceed to consideration of reconciliation recommendations to the budget committee. I asked the committee consider substitute one as modified as the underlying text. Without objection.
▶ 0:23:16Chair Paul: The committee will be authorized to make technical and conforming changes upon adoption of the recommendations without objection. Does any member wish to offer an amendment? >> Mr. chair? I have hassan 14 to offer. Across the country, the lawlessness of masked federal agents has made our communities less safe.
▶ 0:23:40Chair Paul: To start raining in I.c.e.'s typical behavior, this amendment has it required that I.c.e. Agents display their last name, id number, and home agency on their uniforms. At the same time, we know we need to protect the online privacy of federal law enforcement who are sometimes doxxed. This will provide digital privacy services to immigration officers. I urge my colleagues to vote yes on this amendment.
▶ 0:24:11Chair Paul: I have been advised by the budget committee that this abutment does not comply with the rules of reconciliation process and will threaten privilege of the bill. I will oppose this amendment and urge my colleagues to do the same. I move to table the amendment. Without objection.
▶ 0:24:28Sen. Hassan: Ask for the yays and nays please.
▶ 0:24:33Chair Paul: The clerk will ask for a vote. This is a motion to table. >> no. >> aye. >> no. >> no. >> no. >> no by proxy. >> no. >> no by proxy. >> no by proxy. >> aye.
▶ 0:25:09Chair Paul: >> this a chairman, the votes ar 8-4, and the motion is agreed to.
▶ 0:25:18Sen. Hassan: Mr. chair?
▶ 0:25:20Chair Paul: Does anybody have another amendment?
▶ 0:25:23Sen. Hassan: Mr. chair, I offer hassan amendment 15. Our constitution text people in america from federal agents entering their home without a warrant from a judge. Under president trump, however, we have seen masked, poorly trained, and poorly led federal agents violating due process out of step both with our values as a democracy and the conduct of most law enforcement officers who display skill and professionalism and who every day follow the law.
▶ 0:25:52Sen. Hassan: We cannot let our country become a place where the president's agents violate freedoms and due process at his whim. That is both at odds with our values and ultimately undermines public safety in the long run. This amendment ensures that dhs must have a valid judicial warrant when they enter a home in compliance with the fourth amendment. It upholds the constitution's protection of the privacy of our homes. I urge my colleagues to vote yes on this amendment.
▶ 0:26:20Chair Paul: I have been advised by the budget committee that this amendment does not comply with the rules of reconciliation process and will threaten the privilege of the bill on the floor. I will oppose this amendment and urge colleagues to do the same. I moved to table the amendment. Without objection.
▶ 0:26:36Sen. Hassan: Ask for yays and nays please.
▶ 0:26:38Chair Paul: All right, the clerk will call the roll. >> aye. >> aye. >> aye. >> no. >> aye. >> no. >> no. >> no. >> no by proxy. >> no. >> no by proxy.
▶ 0:27:04Chair Paul: Aye. >> Mr. chairman, on the vote of those present, 8-2. On this vote, 8-7, and the motion is agreed to. >> Mr. chairman?
▶ 0:27:20Chair Paul: Senator blumenthal.
▶ 0:27:21Sen. Blumenthal: I call up blumenthal 24. This amendment addresses and absolutely important incident that occurred on january 11, 2026, when dhs officers used a battering ram to break into the home of diana gibson brown and her husband without a judicial warrant.
▶ 0:27:53Sen. Blumenthal: They terrorized her family. They seized miss brown's husband. She testified before our psi spotlight hearing on the blatant constitutional violation that occurred to her. And sadly and tragically occurred all across the country. The gibson brown amendment would prohibit use of funds to enter an american's home without a judicial warrant absent exigent circumstance.
▶ 0:28:24Sen. Blumenthal: For anyone who cares about the fourth amendment, this ought to be an easy vote. Breaking into americans's homes without a judicial warrant ought to be barred. I asked for a roll call vote.
▶ 0:28:35Chair Paul: I have been advised by the budget committee this amendment does not comply with the rules of reconciliation process and will threaten the privilege of the bill. I will oppose this commitment and urge my college to do so. I went to table the amendment. Without objection.
▶ 0:28:50Sen. Blumenthal: I have asked for a roll call vote.
▶ 0:28:54Chair Paul: The clerk will call role. Roll. >> no. >> no. >> no. >> no by proxy. >> no. >> no by proxy.
▶ 0:29:14Chair Paul: Aye. >> Mr. chairman, on the vote of those present, 8-5. On this vote, 8-7, and the motion is agreed to.
▶ 0:29:28Chair Paul: Does anyone have a further amendment? Senator blumenthal.
▶ 0:29:36Sen. Blumenthal: I call up -- >> I want to. Sorry, senator blumenthal.
▶ 0:29:48Sen. Blumenthal: I yield.
▶ 0:29:52Chair Paul: Senator slotkin.
▶ 0:29:54Sen. Slotkin: I call up abutment nine. This would prohibit funds to acquire or develop databases that aggregate information about individuals in the united states carrying out normal first amendment protected activities or create a watch list of such individuals. In january, as the protests around I.c.e. Were going on, there were I.c.e.
▶ 0:30:20Sen. Slotkin: Agents filmed and people were followed by federal agents and were told they were being put on lists and databases of domestic terrorists. When asked in hearings, all kinds of officials said no databases exist, but this amendment is to make sure that never happens and make clear the first amendment rights are protected and we should never be collecting on american citizens and aggregating data about american citizens for first
▶ 0:30:50Sen. Slotkin: Amendment related activities so I urge my colleagues to support.
▶ 0:30:52Chair Paul: I have been advised by the budget committee that this amendment does not comply with the rules of reconciliation process and will threaten the privilege. I will oppose this commitment and urge my colleagues to do the same. I moved to table the amendment. Without objection.
▶ 0:31:06Sen. Hassan: Ask for the yays and nays.
▶ 0:31:08Chair Paul: Clerk will call the roll. >> aye. >> aye. >> aye. >> aye. >> aye. >> no. >> no. >> no by proxy. >> no. >> no by proxy. >> no.
▶ 0:31:34Chair Paul: Aye. >> Mr. chairman, the vote is 8-7, and the motion is agreed to. >> Mr. chairman?
▶ 0:31:46Chair Paul: Senator peters.
▶ 0:31:48Sen. Peters: Mr. chairman, I would like to bring up peter's amendment number 77. Mr. chairman, the administration is increasingly collecting personal information about everyday activities of americans. It is tracking americans's locations using license plate readers. It is monitoring their social media connections and online activity. And it is obtaining financial records, health data, and behavioral profiles from data brokers.
▶ 0:32:19Sen. Peters: It is then using ai to turn all of this data into profiles of individuals. The federal government should not be able to spy on americans without a warrant, plain and simple. This abutment prevents funds in this act, including any technology dhs procures, from being masked or indiscriminate surveillance of american citizens.
▶ 0:32:45Sen. Peters: I certainly urge my colleagues to take action to protect these important civil liberties. And I would also like to say, Mr. chairman, chairman paul claims that the republicans cannot support these amendments because it violates the rule. First, there is no requirement of a no requirement in the congressional budget act that amendments considered during a reconciliation markup must comply with the rule.
▶ 0:33:14Sen. Peters: Second, this amendment tax has not been adjudicated by the parliamentarian so we do not know if it complies with the rule. Any final ruling will happen before floor consideration. So let's be clear. Mike rawlings are using the rule as an excuse to not take clear position on important issues that impact the american people.
▶ 0:33:34Chair Paul: I have been advised by the budget committee this amendment does not comply with the rules of the reconciliation process and will threaten the privilege of the bill on the floor. I will oppose the seven men urge michael is to do so. I moved to table the amendment. Without objection. The clerk will call the roll. >> aye. >> aye. >> aye. >> aye. >> aye.
▶ 0:34:02Sen. Peters: No. >> no. >> no. >> no by proxy. >> no. >> no by proxy.
▶ 0:34:14Chair Paul: Aye. >> Mr. chairman, the vote is 8-7, and the motion is agreed to.
▶ 0:34:27Chair Paul: Are there any further amendments? >> Mr. chairman?
▶ 0:34:31Chair Paul: Senator blumenthal.
▶ 0:34:33Sen. Blumenthal: Mr. chairman, there is an ideal in this country that places of worship to be free from government interference, not to mention breaking down doors and intruding on the practice of faith without fear. I.c.e. Has made a practice of going into places of worship to seize supposed undocumented immigrants.
▶ 0:35:04Sen. Blumenthal: And as of last february, over 27 religious groups sued over such enforcement actions taking place where people pray, including the mennonite church usa, central atlantic conference, united church of christ, the episcopal church conference of american rabbis, general assembly of the presbyterian church, the general commission on religion and race of the united methodist church, the union of reform judaism, the list goes on.
▶ 0:35:35Sen. Blumenthal: This eminent basically prohibits the use of funds under the reconciliation text and the obbb a for immigration enforcement operations that take place in places of worship, practices that are abhorrent and in fact involve reversal of the january 2025 rescission of a rule that protected those. It was done by the trump administration and out to be reversed by this amendment.
▶ 0:36:06Sen. Blumenthal: And I asked for a recorded vote.
▶ 0:36:09Chair Paul: While I favor much of the discussion, while there could have been a discussion over reforms and bipartisan compromise in this, it did not happen because the democrat base decided they were not going to fund I.c.e. No matter what reforms were proffered. There was a discussion. I was all for the discussion. None of these policy things were acceptable to be democrats side because they decided uniformly not to fund I.c.e..
▶ 0:36:36Chair Paul: I have been advised this amendment by the budget committee that this commitment does not comply with the rules of the reconciliation process and will threaten the privilege of the bill on the floor. I will oppose this abutment and urge my colleagues to do the same.
▶ 0:36:48Sen. Blumenthal: Mr. chairman.
▶ 0:36:49Chair Paul: I moved to table the amendment. Without objection.
▶ 0:36:53Sen. Blumenthal: Mr. chairman, I asked for a recorded vote.
▶ 0:36:59Chair Paul: The clerk will call the roll. We will have time for discussion.
▶ 0:37:03Sen. Blumenthal: This has not been adjudicated.
▶ 0:37:05Chair Paul: The clerk will call the roll. >> aye. >> aye. >> aye. >> aye. >> no. >> no. >> no. >> no by proxy. >> no. >> no by proxy. >> no. >> no. >chair paul: aye. >> Mr.
▶ 0:37:30Chair Paul: Chairman, on the vote, 8-7, and the motion is agreed to.
▶ 0:37:39Chair Paul: Does anyone have a further amendment? >> Mr. chairman?
▶ 0:37:43Chair Paul: Senator kim.
▶ 0:37:44Sen. Kim: I call up kim amendment number four. This continues members of authority of congress to meet with detainees, and provide access for oversight purpose. Recent dhs policies have attended to restrict or delay unannounced congressional visits to detention facilities by congress's clear constitutional authority to conduct oversight. These are public facilities paid for by the taxpayer dollar.
▶ 0:38:16Sen. Kim: You have the right to know how those dollars are being spent and if they are being used improperly. The increasing reports of deaths and custody and staggering reports of unsafe living conditions are proof that consistent and unimpeded congressional oversight is necessary. I don't my republican colleagues will claim they cannot support this amendment because it violates the burned rule.
▶ 0:38:40Sen. Kim: First, there is no requirement in the committee again for this to be done in the reconciliation markup must comply with the byrd rule. Second, the text has not been adjudicated by the limiter in tori urge my colleagues to support this amendment and our duty to conduct oversight visits.
▶ 0:38:57Chair Paul: I have been advised by the budget committee that this eminent does not comply with the rules of the reconciliation process and will certain privilege of the bill on the floor. I will oppose this commitment and urge michael likes to do the same. I moved to table the amendment.
▶ 0:39:12Sen. Kim: I asked for thesen.
▶ 0:39:13Kim: Yays and nays.
▶ 0:39:13Chair Paul: The clerk will call the roll. >> aye. >> aye. >> aye. >> aye. >> no. >> no. >> no. >> no by proxy. >> no. >> no by proxy. >> no.
▶ 0:39:34Chair Paul: Aye. >> Mr. chairman, this vote is 8-7, and the motion is agreed to.
▶ 0:39:47Sen. Blumenthal: Mr. chairman?
▶ 0:39:49Chair Paul: Senator blumenthal.
▶ 0:39:51Sen. Blumenthal: Thank you, Mr. chairman. I want to make a point that a number of michael and have made. On all of these amendments, there is no requirement in the committee rules or the congressional budget act that amendments considered during this kind of reconciliation markup must comply with the byrd rule. These are issues of principle that demand a show of conscience and conviction on the part of my colleagues.
▶ 0:40:18Sen. Blumenthal: And second, this amendment text that I am about to offer or any of the others that have been offered have not been adjudicated by the parliamentarian. The amendments we have offered have clear budgetary effects. They are appropriate for this meeting.
▶ 0:40:37Sen. Blumenthal: And I want to be very clear that the byrd rule is being used again and again and again without thought simply as a pretext not to take a clear position on these important issues. And I call up blumenthal 48 2657 7. The trump administration claims to be tough on crime, but it is utterly failing crime victims and local partners in minnesota.
▶ 0:41:09Sen. Blumenthal: My amendment would require the department of justice office of inspector general to investigate the impact of the use of funds there, the so-called immigration search on fire arm drug, and others in minnesota, which we believe have been ignored or disregarded by federal law enforcement there. Anybody who cares about fighting crime and not just talking about fighting crime should support this amendment.
▶ 0:41:37Chair Paul: I have been advised by the budget committee that this amendment does not comply with the rules of reconciliation process and water to the privilege of the bill on the floor. I will oppose this amendment and urge my college to do so. I moved to table the amendment. Without objection.
▶ 0:41:52Sen. Blumenthal: I asked for a recorded vote.
▶ 0:41:54Chair Paul: The clerk will call the roll. >> aye. >> aye. >> aye. >> aye. >> no. >> no. >> no. >> no by proxy. >> no. >> no by proxy.
▶ 0:42:19Chair Paul: Aye. >> Mr. chairman, on the vote, it is 8-7, and the motion is agreed to.
▶ 0:42:32Chair Paul: Are there further amendments?
▶ 0:42:35Sen. Kim: Mr. chairman.
▶ 0:42:36Chair Paul: Senator kim.
▶ 0:42:38Sen. Kim: I call up kim amendment three. Last year, we watched I.c.e. Agents surge in los angeles followed by chicago, washington, D.C., and eventually minneapolis begin in the wake, community's were left broken, business is closed, and families were torn apart. In minneapolis, operation metro surge cost lives of two U.S. citizens but renée good and alex pretti. We cannot forget that.
▶ 0:43:03Sen. Kim: This commitment prohibits the use of federal funds for large-scale immigration enforcement operations such as the surge in minnesota for a period of more than seven days. The cost of these operations is substantial, but more concerning is how the president has weaponized them to terrorize the cities and localities. This is america, and the president should not be using I.c.e. And cbp in this type of way. They have a job to do, and it is not suppressing the voice of american people.
▶ 0:43:33Sen. Kim: I urge my colleagues to support this amendment and prevent taxpayer dollars from being used to fund these operations.
▶ 0:43:38Chair Paul: I have been advised by the budget committee that this amendment does not comply with the rules of reconciliation process and will threaten the privilege of the bill on the floor. I will oppose this amendment and urge my colleagues to do so. I moved to table the amendment.
▶ 0:43:53Sen. Kim: Ask for the yays and nays.
▶ 0:43:55Chair Paul: The clerk will call the roll. >> aye. >> aye. >> aye. >> aye. >> aye. >> no. No >> no>> no. >> no. >> no by proxy. >> no. >> no by proxy.
▶ 0:44:13Chair Paul: Aye. >> Mr. chairman>>, the boat is 8-7 that the vote is 8-7, and the motion is agreed to.
▶ 0:44:28Chair Paul: Are there any further amendments?
▶ 0:44:31Sen. Blumenthal: Mr. chairman?
▶ 0:44:32Chair Paul: Senator blumenthal.
▶ 0:44:34Sen. Blumenthal: Thanks, Mr. chairman. I call up blumenthal 17. I.c.e. Has repeatedly denied medical care to people who have been detained. American citizens as well as undocumented people. One of them is javier ramirez.
▶ 0:44:59Sen. Blumenthal: 's case was documented in a report that was done by the permanent subcommittee on investigations in december when we released findings showing dhs has consistently designed ethical assistance to those detained. Additional reporting since that time has detailed delayed cancer screening for detainees, failure to provide routine care, and ignoring physical complaints from detainees.
▶ 0:45:29Sen. Blumenthal: We ought to be addressing all of it, but I want to keep this narrow focus on javier ramirez's experience. And so I am offering an amendment that essentially would require critical medical treatment for the kind of diabetes that he suffers from and he was denied treatment for. I asked for a recorded vote.
▶ 0:45:56Chair Paul: I have been advised by the budget committee that this amendment does not comply with the rules of reconciliation process and will threaten the privilege of the bill on the floor. I will oppose this amendment and urge my colleagues to do so. The same. I moved to table the amendment.
▶ 0:46:13Sen. Hassan: Ask for the yays and nays.
▶ 0:46:17Chair Paul: The clerk will call the roll. >> aye. >> aye. >> aye. >> aye. >> no. >> no. >> no. >> no by proxy. >> no. >> no by proxy. >> no.
▶ 0:46:32Chair Paul: Aye. >> Mr. chairman, the vote is 8- 7, and the motion is agreed to.
▶ 0:46:45Chair Paul: Are there any further amendments?
▶ 0:46:47Sen. Blumenthal: Mr. chairman?
▶ 0:46:49Chair Paul: Senator blumenthal.
▶ 0:46:50Sen. Blumenthal: There are reports about deficiencies in medical care relating to pregnant women. Pregnant women who are miscarrying are simply told to drink more water. Pregnant women experiencing conventional beating who are denied care and instead told again to drink more water and take vitamins. 911 calls of pregnant women in severe pain.
▶ 0:47:22Sen. Blumenthal: There are numerous examples documented about pregnant women denied essential care. This amendment would prohibit the allocation of funds to I.c.e. And cbp until they comply with the requirement to provide pregnant women in their custody with access to a maternal and prenatal health care provider whenever requested.
▶ 0:47:46Sen. Blumenthal: No less frequently than once monthly until 28 weeks gestation and twice-weekly from 28 weeks gestation until delivery. I have heard time and again from my republican colleagues about their great concern for the delivery of healthy babies. I call up blumenthal 19 bur 26426. Give them a chance to show they really mean it, and I asked for a recorded vote.
▶ 0:48:17Chair Paul: I have been advised by the budget committee that this amendment does not comply with the rules of reconciliation process and will threaten the privilege of the bill on the floor. I will oppose this amendment and urge my colleagues to do the same. I moved to table the amendment.
▶ 0:48:33Sen. Blumenthal: Asked for a recorded vote.
▶ 0:48:36Chair Paul: The clerk will call the roll. >> aye. >> aye. >> aye. >> aye. >> aye. >> no. >> no. >> no. >> no by proxy. >> no. >> no by proxy. >> no.
▶ 0:48:54Chair Paul: Aye. >> Mr. chairman, the vote is 8-7, and the motion is agreed to.
▶ 0:49:07Chair Paul: Are there further amendments?
▶ 0:49:10Sen. Peters: Chairman paul?
▶ 0:49:12Chair Paul: Senator peters.
▶ 0:49:13Sen. Peters: I would like to call up peters amendment 80. This amendment redirects $1 billion of unspent funds from the one big beautiful bill act to ensure dhs provides adequate care to children. The administration is choosing to place an immigration -- children the administration is choosing to place in immigration detention. My colleagues did not want to vote on an amendment to take care of pregnant women.
▶ 0:49:40Sen. Peters: I believe it is a basic response ability of the government to provide at least for the well-being of children, something reports indicate this administers and is failing as I would urge my college to vote in favor of protecting children and support this event. I ask for the yays and nays.
▶ 0:50:00Chair Paul: I have been advised by the budget committee that this amendment does not comply with the rules of reconciliation process and will threaten the privilege of the bill on the floor. I will oppose this amendment and urge my colleagues to do the same. I move to table the amendment.
▶ 0:50:11Sen. Peters: Yays and nays.
▶ 0:50:11Chair Paul: The clerk will call the roll. >> aye. >> aye. >> >> aye. >> aye. >> aye. >> aye. >> no. >> no. >> no. >> no by proxy. >> no. >> no by proxy.
▶ 0:50:34Chair Paul: Aye. >> Mr. chairman, the vote is 8- 7, and the motion is agreed to.
▶ 0:50:46Chair Paul: Are there further amendments?
▶ 0:50:49Sen. Hassan: Mr. chairman?
▶ 0:50:51Chair Paul: Senator hassan.
▶ 0:50:53Sen. Hassan: I offer my commitment, hassan 18. 18 . There is no job more difficult than law enforcement. What happened in minnesota was at odds with our values and ultimately lead to chaos to undermine public safety and made law-enforcement's job even harder.
▶ 0:51:20Sen. Hassan: It is absolutely essential for dhs to improve its force of care standards and and the chaos we have seen in our streets. This abutment says dhs may not received any funds under this act unless the department improves its use of force standards. I anticipate Mr. chair that you will make the same statement about this abutment as you have about the others.
▶ 0:51:44Sen. Hassan: I want to reiterate there is no requirement in the committee rules or the congressional budget act that amendment considered during a reconciliation markup must comply with the byrd rule. Second, this amendment text has not yet been adjudicated by the parliamentarian so we do not know if it complies with the byrd rule. Any final ruling will happen before for consideration. But let's be really clear here. My colleagues are using the byrd rule as a pretext so they don't have to record a clear position on a truly important issue.
▶ 0:52:16Sen. Hassan: This is the same problem, Mr. chair, we had during the negotiations that we did have. Bipartisan negotiations on reforms. Because when push comes to shove, president trump he is above the law. As news reports just breaking tell us, his irs and justice department are finalizing plans to settle a bogus lawsuit with an unaccountable fund that will reward people who attacked police in the united states capitol, so I urge my colleagues to vote yes on this amendment.
▶ 0:52:46Chair Paul: I for one support a lot of reforms in which we had gone down the bipartisan road to reforms. But the rules are the rules. You cannot put policy on appropriation bills. You cannot put policy on a reconciliation bill. So as much as I would like to be for the reforms you all gave up. You gave up and just said we will not fund I.c.e. When you made that decision, the negotiations ended and all hope for a form, so here we are.
▶ 0:53:14Chair Paul: I have been advised by the budget committee that this amendment does not comply with the rules of reconciliation process and will threaten the privilege of the bill on the floor. I will oppose this amendment and urge my colleagues to do the same. To do so.
▶ 0:53:26Sen. Hassan: Asked for the yays and nays.
▶ 0:53:28Chair Paul: The clerk will call the roll. >> aye. >> aye. >> aye. >> aye. >> no. >> no. >> no. >> no by proxy. >> no. >> no by proxy. >> no.
▶ 0:53:49Chair Paul: Aye. >> Mr. chairman, the vote is 8-7, and the motion is agreed to.
▶ 0:54:05Chair Paul: Is there a further amendment?
▶ 0:54:08Sen. Hassan: Yes, Mr. chair.
▶ 0:54:09Chair Paul: Senator hassan.
▶ 0:54:11Sen. Hassan: I offer my amendment hassan 19. The shootings in minnesota have made clear to the vast majority of americans the chaos in the streets launched by this administration must end. Law-abiding americans who are legally carrying firearms should not have to worry about being gunned down in the street. Not in the united states of america.
▶ 0:54:32Sen. Hassan: We need to stand up for the freedoms of the american people and the rule of law and reject the chaos that this administration has inflicted on our communities, a chaos which has undermined public safety. This eminence is that dhs may not receive any funds under this act unless the department improves its use of force standards, including prohibiting deadly use of force against civilians who are legally carrying firearms and pose no credit with her.
▶ 0:54:58Sen. Hassan: Again, the byrd rule does not apply to a markup in the reconciliation process, nor has this amendment been adjudicated by the parliamentarian. This is about whether my colleagues are willing to go on the record and different with president trump. I ask for the yays and nays.
▶ 0:55:15Chair Paul: I have been advised by the budget committee that this amendment does not comply with the rules of reconciliation process and will threaten the privilege of the bill on the floor. I will oppose this amendment and urge my colleagues to do so. I move the I move t to table the amendment.
▶ 0:55:29Sen. Hassan: Ask for the yays and nays.
▶ 0:55:32Chair Paul: The clerk will call the roll. >> aye. >> aye. >> aye. >> aye. >> aye. >> no. >> no. >> no by proxy. >> no. >> no by proxy. >> no.
▶ 0:55:49Chair Paul: Aye. >> Mr. chairman, the vote is 8-7, and the motion is agreed to.
▶ 0:56:02Chair Paul: Does anyone wish to offer an amendment?
▶ 0:56:04Sen. Hassan: Yes, Mr. chair.
▶ 0:56:07Chair Paul: Senator hassan.
▶ 0:56:09Sen. Hassan: I offer hassan amendment 20. There are few jobs as tough as serving law enforcement, and in new hampshire, law enforcement officers regularly perform their jobs with skill, courage, and professionalism. That is why I, like a majority of americans including law-enforcement, was horrified by the president's decision to unleased chaos -- unleased chaos on our communities including the shootings in minnesota.
▶ 0:56:37Sen. Hassan: The president's recklessness has made more americans less safe. This amendment says dhs must update its use of force standards including by braving the use of deadly force against restraint, immobilized civilians. Again, the bird act does not apply here at this provision has not been adjudicated by the parliamentarian. And the tabling process should not be used as a pretext for taking a clear stand on this issue.
▶ 0:57:04Sen. Hassan: I urge colleagues to vote yes on this amendment, and I ask for the yays and nays.
▶ 0:57:11Chair Paul: I have been advised by the budget committee that this amendment does not comply with the rules of reconciliation process and will threaten the privilege of the bill on the floor. I will oppose this amendment and urge my colleagues to do so. I moved to table the amendment.
▶ 0:57:23Sen. Hassan: Ask for the yays and nays.
▶ 0:57:25Chair Paul: The clerk will call the roll. >> aye. >> aye. >> aye. >> aye. >> aye. >> no. >>.no no. >> no. >> no by proxy. >> no. >> no by proxy.
▶ 0:57:49Chair Paul: Aye. >> Mr. chairman, the boat is that the vote is 8-7, and the motion is agreed to.
▶ 0:58:02Chair Paul: Are there further amendments?
▶ 0:58:04Sen. Blumenthal: Mr. chairman?
▶ 0:58:05Chair Paul: Senator blumenthal.
▶ 0:58:07Sen. Blumenthal: Mr. chairman, I am baffled by my republican colleagues refusing to address the merits of our amendment and rejecting this opportunity to stand up for basic american rights. And the amendment I call up now, blumenthal 21, the martinez is a madman, goes to the core of what it means to be safe in america.
▶ 0:58:34Sen. Blumenthal: And I challenge my republican colleagues to avoid the formula, the meaningless and relevant language that the chairman is relying on to simply avoid dealing with basic challenges to american rights in this fraud time -- frought time. Miss martinez is a U.S. citizen.
▶ 0:59:02Sen. Blumenthal: She was shot by a border patrol agent who then boasted about it in a text that this committee has seen because I.c.e. Showed it to witnesses here. Dhs claimed miss martinez was blocking a border patrol agent and that she attempted to ram agents with her vehicle before exiting the vehicle and opened fire on her.
▶ 0:59:29Sen. Blumenthal: The claim she was interfering with agents was palpably untrue. She was charged with assaulting federal officers, but the charges were dropped after evidence demonstrated he in fact ram her car and agents were the aggressors.
▶ 0:59:49Sen. Blumenthal: This amendment states no funds are to be used from the united states government in america for activities that involve the use of deadly force against nonviolent protesters who are exercising their first amendment rights to protest this administration's lawless mass deportation programming.
▶ 1:00:13Sen. Blumenthal: This amendment states no funding can be used for the deadly use of force against such nonviolent protesters anywhere, anytime, any issue, although it is named for martinez, it would protect all of us who are at risk of experiencing violence when engaging in protected first amendment activity. I challenge my republican colleagues to do the right thing and we a form -- and reaffirm the importance of the first amendment against the deadly use of force.
▶ 1:00:44Chair Paul: I have been advised by the budget committee that this amendment does not comply with the rules of reconciliation process and will threaten the privilege of the bill on the floor. I will oppose this amendment and urge my colleagues to do the same. I move to table the amendment. Without objection.
▶ 1:00:59Sen. Blumenthal: I ask for a recorded vote.
▶ 1:01:04Chair Paul: The clerk will call the roll. >> aye. >> aye. >> aye. >> aye. >> aye. >> no. >> no. >> no. >> no by proxy. >> no. >> no by proxy. >> no. >> no. >chair paul: aye. >> Mr.
▶ 1:01:30Chair Paul: Chairman, the vote is 8-7, and the motion is agreed to.
▶ 1:01:38Chair Paul: Are there any further amendments?
▶ 1:01:40Sen. Peters: Mr. chairman?
▶ 1:01:42Chair Paul: Senator peters.
▶ 1:01:44Sen. Peters: Mr. chairman, mike rawlings. Keep saying our amendments do not adhere to the byrd rule, and we certainly do not agree with that assertion, but we certainly would not want clear feet if the chairman would agree to postponing this hearing or at least recess until we have a chance to go to the parliamentarian to have the parliamentarian look. It would clear it all and we could show that indeed these do comply. Would you be willing to have a temporary recess while we consult the parliamentarian?
▶ 1:02:14Chair Paul: Are there further amendments?
▶ 1:02:18Sen. Peters: Just a question for you, Mr. chairman. You are not going to enter the question? Peters amendment 139 before us right now. This amendment would absolutely have a budgetary impact. This is not going to be if we went to the parliamentarian right now, they would say this is ok, because it actually gives $50,000 for implementation. So this is a clear budgetary impact, clear appropriation, fully consistent with the rules.
▶ 1:02:48Sen. Peters: Everyone here understands the importance of immigration enforcement. However, in the last year, we have seen I.c.e. And cbp personnel pepper spray clergy in the face, break windows, and pull american citizens out of their cars, and kill two american citizens who were exercising their first amendment rights.
▶ 1:03:10Sen. Peters: Dhs, I.c.e., and cbp have all used force policies and manuals, but these document are simply not available to the public online or in any really reasonable forum. Americans deserve to know exactly how I.c.e. And cbp have been trained and what their use of force policies and procedures are, just like our local police in all of our communities. My commitment requires all of these documents be posted online. This is basic transparency and accountability.
▶ 1:03:41Sen. Peters: I would urge my colleagues to support the amendment.
▶ 1:03:45Chair Paul: Once again, many of the policies being proposed I am supportive of. If we had a debate today on a policy bill or authorization bill, I am able support and my support many of the reforms. The problem is this is a reconciliation bill. This is a spending bill, and it is not proper or allowed by the rules of the senate to have policy changes on appropriation reconciliation bills. I have been advised by the budget committee that this amendment does not comply with the rules of reconciliation process and will threaten the privilege of the bill on the floor.
▶ 1:04:20Chair Paul: I will oppose this amendment and urge my colleagues to do the same. I moved to table the amendment.
▶ 1:04:26Sen. Peters: Yays and nays.
▶ 1:04:27Chair Paul: The clerk will call the roll. >> aye. >> aye. >> aye. >> aye. >> no. >> note. . >> no. >> no by proxy. >> no. >> no by proxy.
▶ 1:04:45Chair Paul: Aye. >> Mr. chairman, on the vote, it is 8-7, and the motion is agreed to.
▶ 1:04:59Chair Paul: Are there further amendments?
▶ 1:05:03Sen. Kim: Mr. chair, I call up kim amendment number five. The deaths of american citizens at the hands of ice and cbp raise serious concerns about their de-escalation skills. This limit requires I.c.e. And cbp agents to receive de-escalation training for interactions with civilians and protesters. I.c.e. And cbp personnel regularly operate in high tension environments involving arrests, family separations, and public demonstrations.
▶ 1:05:31Sen. Kim: Reports of escalated encounters during immigration enforcement operations, including fatal incidents, highlight the need for improved training standards. Congress must ensure de-escalation training reaches every officer so that no more lives are lost. I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.
▶ 1:05:49Chair Paul: I have been advised by the budget committee that this amendment does not comply with the rules of reconciliation process and will threaten the privilege of the bill on the floor. I will oppose this amendment and urge my colleagues to do the same. I move to table the amendment. The clerk will call the roll. >> aye. >> aye. >> aye. >> aye. >> aye. >> aye. >> no. >> no. >> no. >> no by proxy.
▶ 1:06:19Chair Paul: >> no. >> no by proxy. >> no.
▶ 1:06:24Chair Paul: Aye. >> Mr. chairman, the vote is 8-7, and the motion is agreed to.
▶ 1:06:37Chair Paul: Are there further amendments?
▶ 1:06:39Sen. Kim: Mr. chair?
▶ 1:06:40Chair Paul: Senator kim.
▶ 1:06:42Sen. Kim: I call up kim amendment number two. The lady who has been a sense of turmoil, chaos in new jersey, and is a member it requires dhs and the dhs office of inspector general to perform a formal review of the conditions at the facility addressing the concerns and to pause payment on the contract and the intake of new detainees until it has been fixed.
▶ 1:07:07Sen. Kim: A recent open letter penned and signed by nearly 300 detainees substantiates what I and many other members of congress have personally witnessed about the live in conditions within. Detainees have protested over insufficient food. One detainee's death has occurred with dhs not yet providing full transparency on what happened. When facilities such as delaney fail to meet requirements and the billion-dollar corporations that run them should not continue to go unscathed.
▶ 1:07:37Sen. Kim: I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.
▶ 1:07:40Chair Paul: I have been advised by the budget committee that this amendment does not comply with the rules of reconciliation process and will threaten the privilege of the bill on the floor. I will oppose this amendment and urge my colleagues to do the same. I move to table the amendment. The clerk will call the roll. >> aye. >> aye. >> aye. >> aye. >> aye. >> aye. >> aye. >> no. >> no. >> no. >> no by proxy. >> no.
▶ 1:08:11Chair Paul: >> no by proxy. >> no.
▶ 1:08:14Chair Paul: Aye. >> Mr. chairman, the vote is 8-7 , and the motion is agreed to.
▶ 1:08:28Chair Paul: Are there further amendments?
▶ 1:08:30Sen. Kim: Mr. chair.
▶ 1:08:32Chair Paul: Senator kim.
▶ 1:08:33Sen. Kim: I call up kim amendment number one. Retrofitting warehouses into detention facilities often done against the wishes of our communities needs to stop. This is why I'm filing this amendment, which would prohibit dhs from using a blank check to retrofit warehouses and turn them into large-scale detention facilities. Earlier this year, dhs purchased a warehouse in roxbury, new jersey. They did so without consulting with local officials and the local community.
▶ 1:09:03Sen. Kim: When I visited roxbury, I heard the real concerns about safety, strain on infrastructure such as water use on and concerns about the values of people's homes in the shadow of the warehouse. These concerns were not addressed by dhs. In fact, they were ignored. I know this is occurring across the country and all of our states and districts, and we see undoubtedly american people standing up against this type of practice. Warehouses are not supposed to house people.
▶ 1:09:29Sen. Kim: These are facilities that lack bare minimum space for medical care, bathroom facilities, and sanitation. But also, they come after men discussed. The facility in roxbury was purchased with $130 million every taxpayer dollars, including hundred of millions of dollars more than it would cost to retrofit this so let's do the right thing and make sure dhs cannot turn these warehouses into mass detention facilities. I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.
▶ 1:09:57Chair Paul: I have been advised by the budget committee that this amendment does not comply with the rules of reconciliation process and will threaten the privilege of the bill on the floor. I will oppose this amendment and urge my colleagues to do the same. I move to table the amendment. The clerk will call the roll. >> aye. >> aye. >> aye. >> aye. >> aye. >> aye. >> aye. >> no. >> no. >> no. >> no by proxy.
▶ 1:10:30Chair Paul: >> no. >> no by proxy. >> no.
▶ 1:10:35Chair Paul: Aye. >> Mr. chairman, the vote is 8-7 , and the motion is agreed to.
▶ 1:10:50Chair Paul: Are there further amendments?
▶ 1:10:52Sen. Hassan: Mr. chair?
▶ 1:10:54Chair Paul: Senator hassan.
▶ 1:10:56Sen. Hassan: I offer amendment hassan number one. In my state, local leaders raised significant concerns w hen I.c.e. Went behind their backs and turned a building into a detention center. Local leaders need to have a say in how to keep their communities safe. This amendment says I.c.e. Cannot buy a warehouse to turn it into a detention center without approval of state and local officials.
▶ 1:11:25Sen. Hassan: Again, I will note this process is not subject to the byrd rule. These provisions have not been ruled on by the parliamentarian. Just to be clear about why we are offering so many of these amendment here, as somebody who was part of bipartisan negotiations, the last time we met, we thought we had made some progress. We then offered another meeting, and the white house and the republicans walked away. So that is why we are here. It would be happy as senator peters noted to have a recess and have the parliamentarian rule on these.
▶ 1:11:56Sen. Hassan: But in the meantime, I ask for a yes vote on hassan number one and ask for the yays and nays.
▶ 1:12:01Chair Paul: This markup for this bill has been known for two weeks. All the democrats could have taken amendments to the parliamentarian to get them approved to make them pertinent to this bill. None of them have been approved. The only thing that has been approved by the parliamentarian is the underlying text of the amendment we are voting on today. I have been advised by the budget committee that this amendment does not comply with the rules of reconciliation process and will threaten the privilege of the bill on the floor. I will oppose this amendment and urge my colleagues to do the same. I move to table the eminent.
▶ 1:12:33Sen. Hassan: And I ask for a recorded vote.
▶ 1:12:38Chair Paul: The clerk will call the roll. >> aye. >> aye. >> aye. >> aye. >> aye. >> aye. >> aye. >> no. >> no. >> no. >> no by proxy. >> no. >> no by proxy. >> no.
▶ 1:12:58Chair Paul: Aye. >> Mr. chairman, the vote is 8-7, in the motion is agreed to.
▶ 1:13:11Chair Paul: Are there further amendments?
▶ 1:13:14Sen. Slotkin: Mr. chairman, I am calling up slotkin amendment one, also related to new I.c.e. Facilities. Two weeks ago, I had the chance to visit the northlake facility. It is a processing center, an I.c.e. Center in baldwin, michigan. A couple weeks before that, I went and visited the warehouse that I.c.e. Had leased in romulus, michigan.
▶ 1:13:43Sen. Slotkin: They purchased actually this warehouse for another detention facility. And I think it is safe to say that regardless of how people feel about I.c.e. And the cultural conversation we are having is a country, we should not be buying and leasing facilities that were never meant for human beings to house and detain human beings. This was built as a warehouse.
▶ 1:14:12Sen. Slotkin: They were in discussions about restoring auto parts there, never intended for human habitation. Inadequate sewage capacity within a quarter-mile of a residential neighborhood. Eyesockets shooting baskets less than 700 feet from the facility. It is near an elementary school. Local and state officials are against it.
▶ 1:14:39Sen. Slotkin: There are still emptying beds at the existing facility in baldwin, michigan. I understand that the new secretary has actually come in and called a halt to all of these warehouses around the country that have been selected, fought, leased with taxpayer dollars.
▶ 1:14:55Sen. Slotkin: I appreciate if that is what has actually gone on, and certainly the secretary himself was in the plumbing business and understands that things not meant for human hedge -- human habitation should not house human beings and I hope to continue that, but at the same time this would prohibit construction of a new detention center in a facility that meets any of these criteria and I urge my colleagues to support.
▶ 1:15:19Chair Paul: I've been advised by the budget committee that this does not comply with the rules of the reconciliation process. I will oppose this amendment and urge my colleagues to do the same. The clerk will call the roll. >> Mr. johnson? >> no. -- >> aye. Mr. lankford? -- >> no. >> no by proxy. >> no.
▶ 1:15:53Chair Paul: >> no by proxy. >> aye. >> aye by proxy. -- chair paul: >> aye by proxy. -- >> on this vote, gays are eight companies nazar seven, the motion -- yeas are eight, nays are 7.
▶ 1:16:16Sen. Slotkin: Amendment 12 prohibiting armed employees from being deployed to kohls on election day. To be clear, it is already illegal to send armed men and including dhs agents to of polling places. It's been illegal since 1865. There is one exception, to repel armed enemies of the united states. This exception has never been used in american history.
▶ 1:16:45Sen. Slotkin: Not during world war ii, not two months after 9/11 when we have been attacked. But it hasn't stopped this administration from suggesting as recently as last week that the president may indeed send ice agents to the polls. He suggested the same during the 2024 election. He drafted an executive order in 2020 that would have sent troops to the polls.
▶ 1:17:13Sen. Slotkin: Seizing ballots in michigan to help overturn the results of the 2020 election. I have asked many nominees in this room whether they would send dhs agents to the polls. All four of the folks I asked left the door open, including secretary of homeland security.
▶ 1:17:32Sen. Slotkin: Clearly, this administration has made it clear, including in the state of the union, the president has said clearly that if his party doesn't win in november that the election is rigged and he is taking steps to do things that I believe are illegal during the election, either this one or 2028. This administration needs to be reminded and I urge my colleagues to support this amendment, no dhs to the polls.
▶ 1:17:56Chair Paul: I've been advised by the budget committee that this does not comply with reconciliation and I will oppose this amendment and urge my colleagues to do the same. I moved to table the amendment. The clerk will call the roll. >> Mr. johnson? >> aye. >> Mr. lankford? >> aye. >> Mr. scott? >> aye. >> Mr. hawley? >> aye. >> Mr. moreno? >> aye. >> Ms. ernst? >> aye. >> Ms. moody? >> aye. >> Mr. peters? >> no. >> Ms. hassan? >> no. >> Mr. blumenthal? >> no. >> Mr. fetterman?
▶ 1:18:27Chair Paul: >> no by proxy. >> Mr. kim? >> no. >> Mr. gallego? >> no by proxy. >> Ms. slotkin? >> Mr. paul?
▶ 1:18:36Chair Paul: >> aye. >> this vote, the yeas the motion isare 8, agreed to.
▶ 1:18:55Sen. Slotkin: On preserving our democracy, 13, I want to review the fitting on how the president has attempted to undermine our confidence in midterm elections. We had a raid on an elections's office in georgia a few months ago. The president and the department of justice have asked for the michigan voter rolls as recently as the last three months. Michigan denied that request, but we are now in court over that issue.
▶ 1:19:24Sen. Slotkin: Trump has said that he wants to "nationalize elections" in 15 jurisdictions, including detroit, because of alleged fraud, and in the state of the union he again said that if democrats win in november, they cheated.
▶ 1:19:40Sen. Slotkin: December of 20 the trump administration again drafted an executive order that would have sent to the national guard into places like michigan to seize our ballots against the will of our governor and local officials and just a few weeks ago on april 14, the department of justice wrote to the wayne county clerk in detroit to request all ballots, ballot receipts and envelopes from the 2024 election. We need to safeguard our midterms.
▶ 1:20:07Sen. Slotkin: I would hope that no matter the side of the aisle we are on that we want to preserve our democracy, particularly in the midterms coming up. This bill would prevent funds from being used to allow ice or other dha's agents -- dhs agents to support the m -- to seize ballots.
▶ 1:20:26Chair Paul: I've been advised that this does not comply with the rules of reconciliation and will threaten the privilege of the bill on the floor. I would oppose this madman and urge my colleagues to do the same. I moved to table. Clerk will call the roll. >> Mr. johnson? >> aye. >> Mr. lankford? >> aye. >> Mr. scott? >> aye by proxy. >> Mr. hawley? >> aye. >> Mr. moreno? >> Ms. ernst? >> Ms. moody? >> Mr. peters? >> no. >> Ms. hassan? >> no. >> Mr. blumenthal? >> no. >> Mr. fetterman? >> no by proxy. >> Mr. kim?
▶ 1:20:58Chair Paul: >> Mr. gallego? >> no by proxy. >> Ms. slotkin? >> Mr. paul?
▶ 1:21:03Chair Paul: Aye. >> the yeas are 7, nays are 5. On this vote, the motion is agreed to.
▶ 1:21:23Chair Paul: Are there further amendments? Senator blumenthal?
▶ 1:21:28Senator Blumenthal: As the united states has proposed the creation of a test of president of the united states as pose a creation of a $1.8 billion slush fund to pay off his political allies. He is perverting the justice system with this illegal proposal.
▶ 1:21:52Senator Blumenthal: This amendment provides the same amount of funding, legally, for the dhs secretary to establish and administer a similar fund to compensate united states citizens illegally harmed by their government.
▶ 1:22:10Senator Blumenthal: That is the reason I am calling up the blumenthal amendment, 68, the fund would provide compensation to the united states citizens injured or killed by any dhs law enforcement officer or other immigration officer, including as a result of gunshot, anyone whose property was entered without a judicial warrant. Anyone who has been detained.
▶ 1:22:39Senator Blumenthal: These violations of basic rights ought to be compensated. The injuries and death cry out for justice. Instead of devoting $1.8 billion to eight slush fund illegally, I urge the committee to take action legally to take care of the people who suffered at the hands of their own government who, through no fault of their own, have been attacked by ice or other agents of the
▶ 1:23:10Senator Blumenthal: Government. In my role as ranking member, I held a series of spotlight forms with the house oversight committee showing firsthand testimony, graphic evidence of these kinds of violent tactics. Harms, murders. These united states citizens ought to be compensated for the harm they have suffered.
▶ 1:23:39Chair Paul: I've been advised by the budget committee that this amendment does not comply with the rules of the reconciliation process and will threaten the privilege of the bill on the floor. I will oppose the amended and urge my colleagues to do the same. I moved to table the amendment.
▶ 1:23:55Sen. Blumenthal: I ask for a roll call vote.
▶ 1:23:59Chair Paul: The clerk will call the roll. >> Mr. johnson? >> aye. >> Mr. lankford? >> aye. >> Mr. scott? >> aye. >> Mr. hawley? >> aye. >> Mr. moreno? >> Ms. ernst? >> Ms. moody? >> Mr. peters? >> no. >> Ms. hassan? >> no. >> Mr. blumenthal? >> no. >> Mr. fetterman? >> no by proxy. >> Mr. kim? >> no. >> Mr. gallego? >> no by proxy. >> Ms. slotkin? >> Mr. paul?
▶ 1:24:31Chair Paul: I want to make it clear that this is a motion to table the amendment and I both -- vote aye. >> the motion is agreed to, yeas are 8.
▶ 1:24:50Chair Paul: Are there further amendments question mark senator blumenthal?
▶ 1:24:54Sen. Blumenthal: I call up blumenthal amended 66, prohibiting the use of funds to deport or detain any veteran unless the veteran has committed or been involved in a violent crime, convicted of a violent crime. There are about 100 15,000 military veterans living in the united states who do not have citizenship, according to the 2022 estimates by the congressional research service.
▶ 1:25:25Sen. Blumenthal: Previously, military service was a significant mitigating factor, that's a quote, to be considered when making enforcement decisions. Which makes perfect sense. Men and women who perform critical service for this country and its defense ought to be given basic rights, but the trump administration has rescinded the policy. It is anti-veteran, anti-american.
▶ 1:25:56Sen. Blumenthal: Such treatment towards our veterans is a slap in the face after the sacrifices they made to serve this country proudly. Recent dhs data revealed that in 2025 the trump administration attempted to deport 282 veterans and family members and that ice arrested 120 five veterans, despite two thirds of those arrested lacking any criminal
▶ 1:26:27Sen. Blumenthal: Warrant. No allegation of criminal activity. I urge members to vote yes to protect a group who have so bravely protected us as we approach this memorial day weekend.
▶ 1:26:42Chair Paul: I have been advised by the budget committee that the amendment was comply with the rules of the reconciliation process in which threaten the privilege of the bill on the floor. I oppose this amendment and urge my colleagues to do the same. I moved to table the amendment. Without objection?
▶ 1:26:59Sen. Blumenthal: I ask for a recorded vote. Mr. chairman, may I inquire -- >> >> Mr. lankford?
▶ 1:27:09Sen. Peters: >> Mr. scott?
▶ 1:27:10Sen. Peters: >> Mr. hawley? >> Mr. moreno? >> Ms. ernst? >> Ms. moody? >> Mr. peters? >> no. >> Ms. hassan? >> no. >> Mr. blumenthal? >> no. >> Mr. fetterman? >> no by proxy. >> Mr. kim? >> no. >> Mr. gallego? >> no. >> Ms. slotkin? >> no. >> Mr. paul? I. >> Mr.
▶ 1:27:32Sen. Peters: Chairman on the vote of those present, yay is eight, née is seven.
▶ 1:27:41Chair Paul: Are there further amendments question mark -- amendment?
▶ 1:27:50Senator Peters: I call up peter's amendment 153. I will talk about that briefly, but Mr. chairman, as you have objected to these based on the budget committee, you and all of my colleagues know that it really does matter what your republican friends on the budget committee say, only the parliamentarian can rule on this and we just received the final text last night, so we are rushing this forward.
▶ 1:28:17Senator Peters: We have also seen videos of dhs personnel jumping out of unmarked cars wearing masks and without clear agency identification, weapons drawn. Actions that immediately escalate the encounters with the public that have quite frankly created very dangerous situations for everyone involved . Often these masked individuals are only wearing a sign on their vest that says police.
▶ 1:28:45Senator Peters: This is the same type of insignia that can be easily purchased online by anyone to a person eight and officer. In fact, just last year administration hospice fbi released a bulletin entitled "criminal actors impersonate ice agents to commit violent crime. The report highlighted how unidentified officers can be imposters and pose a significant safety threat to american citizens.
▶ 1:29:18Senator Peters: To ensure the safety of law enforcement in the public, it is essential that dhs law enforcement are clearly identified. I recognize that there are certain situations where concealment would certainly protect officers, such as when they are involved in covert operations like targeting cartels.
▶ 1:29:36Senator Peters: This amendment strikes an appropriate balance, however, ensuring that officers are protected unique circumstances but making sure they are clearly identified when interacting with the american people on american streets and I encourage my colleagues to vote for this amendment that will improve transparency and protect both law enforcement and the american people. I would ask for the yeas and nays.
▶ 1:30:03Chair Paul: I been advised by the budget committee at this amendment is not comply with the rules of the reconciliation process and will threaten the privilege of the bill on the floor. I urge my colleagues to oppose the amendment. Without objection, clerk will call the roll. >> Mr. johnson? >> aye. >> Mr. lankford? >> aye. >> Mr. scott? >> aye. >> Mr. hawley? >> aye. >> Mr. moreno? >> aye. >> Ms. ernst? >> Ms. moody? >> Mr. peters? >> no. >> Ms. hassan? >> no. >> Mr. blumenthal? >> no. >> Mr. fetterman?
▶ 1:30:34Chair Paul: >> no by proxy. -- sorry? >> aye by proxy. Federman is >> no by proxy. >> ok. Mr. kim? >> Mr. gallego? >> Ms. slotkin? >> no by proxy. >> Mr. paul?
▶ 1:31:04Chair Paul: Aye. >> on this vote, the ayes are eight, nays are seven.
▶ 1:31:19Chair Paul: Are there any further amendments?
▶ 1:31:24Sen. Peters: Mr. chairman?
▶ 1:31:26Chair Paul: Senator peters?
▶ 1:31:28Sen. Peters: Amendment 162, peters. In the last year, ice has spent $2 million in taxpayer money to purchase spyware from paragon solutions, a company whose spyware is used by autocrats against political opponents and dissenters around the world.
▶ 1:31:54Sen. Peters: It silently reaches a person because devices to steal encrypted messages, call logs, photographs, and location data, and can even activate microphones and cameras without the knowledge of the individual. Ice has failed to provide any details to congress about how they are actually using this incredibly powerful cyber tool and under what legal justification.
▶ 1:32:18Sen. Peters: My amendment simply would prevent ice from using taxpayer dollars to spy on american citizens and violate the privacy and free speech rights. I would encourage my colleagues to vote yes to protect privacy and constitutional rights.
▶ 1:32:35Chair Paul: I have been advised by the budget committee that this does not comply with the reconciliation process rules and will threaten its stance on the floor. I moved to table the amendment. I urge my colleagues to do the same. Without objection question mark clerk will call the roll. >> Mr. johnson? >> aye. >> Mr. lankford? >> aye. >> Mr. scott? >> aye. >> Mr. hawley? >> aye by proxy. >> Mr. moreno? >> Ms. ernst? >> Ms. moody?
▶ 1:33:06Chair Paul: >> Mr. peters? >> no. >> Ms. hassan? >> no. >> Mr. blumenthal? >> no. >> Mr. fetterman? >> no by proxy. >> Mr. kim? >> no. >> Mr. gallego? >> no by proxy. >> Ms. slotkin? >> Mr. paul? Yay. >> on the vote of those president, and on this -- on this vote the motion is agreed to, yays r8, nays are seven.
▶ 1:33:39Chair Paul: Senator blumenthal?
▶ 1:33:45Senator Blumenthal: Two shooters open fire at the islamic center in san diego, killing three people, including a security guard. Two months ago a man armed with a rifle rammed his vehicle into a major synagogue in michigan . Clearly. -- clearly, hate crimes are on the rise, directed against places of worship and nonprofit community centers around the country.
▶ 1:34:14Senator Blumenthal: Groups are strategically targeting places of worship. I call up blumenthal 32, which seeks to respond to the growing need to secure our most sacred and other spaces by redirecting, redirecting $1 billion of the unobligated funds from section 90007 of title nine of the ob
▶ 1:34:46Senator Blumenthal: Bda to the nonprofit security grant program within pima at dhs . The reason I emphasize that it is a transfer of money is very simply that such a transfer is clearly within this committee's jurisdiction.
▶ 1:35:10Senator Blumenthal: Reconciliation allows providing money for existing agency activities that fall within this committee's jurisdiction. Redirecting funds towards other important purposes under dhs clearly complies with the budget act. There can be no claim, Mr. chairman, that the budget committee has advised anyone that this amendment is outside of our jurisdiction or improper to suggest at this point.
▶ 1:35:43Senator Blumenthal: If republicans truly believe it doesn't comply, we can meet with a parliamentarian, as the ranking member suggested, to make necessary changes. Before floor consideration. They are hiding behind a procedural pretext and tabling every amendment, one after another, without regard to the rules. Some blue because they don't want to face the merits of these amendments.
▶ 1:36:15Senator Blumenthal: Now, the nonprofit security grant program provides support for exactly the kind of protective activity that might have prevented the deaths at the islamic center. One security guard was killed. He may have saved lives.
▶ 1:36:31Senator Blumenthal: More security guards, hardening of the islamic center, just as happens at other places of worship, but also has to be enhanced at those places of worship. We established the nonprofit security grant program to achieve that critical goal.
▶ 1:36:51Senator Blumenthal: Let's now fund it with the money that it needs and that worshipers deserve rather than continuing to over fund the administration's draconian immigration agenda. Rather than throwing money at ice and cbp, let's provide some protection for people going to worship. Where ever it may be. In any part of the country.
▶ 1:37:19Senator Blumenthal: This amendment, blumenthal 32, is clearly within the jurisdiction. And Mr. chairman, I ask if you have been provided any guidance from the budget committee, I ask that you provided to this committee before we vote. Any guidance in writing I asked be provided.
▶ 1:37:43Chair Paul: Both parties were given two weeks to submit amendments, these could have been submitted to the parliamentarian. We submitted the bill as an amendment to the parliamentarian and it was approved. The other side was given every opportunity to do so. I have been advised by the budget committee that this amendment does not comply with the rules of the reconciliation process and will threaten bills on the floor. I oppose this amendment and urge to do the same for my colleagues.
▶ 1:38:11Sen. Blumenthal: I ask for a recorded vote and I ask again for the guidance you have been provided. >> >> Mr. johnson? >> Mr. lankford? >> aye. >> Mr. scott? >> aye. >> Mr. hawley? >> aye. >> Mr. moreno? >> Ms. ernst? >> aye. >> Ms. moody? >> Mr. peters? >> no. >> Ms. hassan? >> no. >> Mr. blumenthal? >> no. >> Mr. fetterman? >> no by proxy. >> Mr. kim? >> no. >> Mr. gallego? >> no by proxy.
▶ 1:38:41Sen. Blumenthal: >> Ms. slotkin? >> Mr. paul? Yay. >> on this vote, the yays r8, the nos are seven. The motions agreed to.
▶ 1:39:03Sen. Peters: Last year, my republican colleagues gave only in security almost two hundred billion dollars. If we're going to increase dhs spending, we need to increase funding for the inspector general.
▶ 1:39:23Sen. Peters: We have seen eyes fire -- vice hire people using an ai system and we have seen dhs personnel beat, bully, and kill american citizens. Ig has a track record of rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse. But this funding has not kept pace with this exponential growth in this department.
▶ 1:39:53Sen. Peters: We are giving them no money with no transparency requirements and no independent oversight. We need to change that. I hope my colleagues will support this. I want to be clear as I offer this amendment, reconciliation allows providing money for existing agency activities that fall within the committee jurisdiction.
▶ 1:40:16Sen. Peters: So, redirecting funds towards another important purpose under dhs complies with the budget act. It's clear that it complies with the budget act, including funds provided in the one big beautiful bill last year. That is what this amendment does.
▶ 1:40:36Sen. Peters: It basically provides 999 -- 995 billion dollars for the inspector general and has clear budgetary effects and is solely within his gag jurisdiction and does not change state policy. Therefore, it is compliant and will not threaten the privilege of this bill. If republicans truly believe that it does not comply, we can meet with the parliamentarian to make the necessary changes.
▶ 1:41:02Sen. Peters: We just got the final text on this last night, that's when we got final text. But I think instead that my republican colleagues here are hiding behind procedural excuses, tabling every amendment.
▶ 1:41:16Sen. Peters: I think they think this insulates them and that they can fool the american people by playing some sort of procedural game, but we know that even when you vote the way the republicans are voting, they are basically taking a position that is overwhelmingly popular with the american people and oppose the actions of the republicans that they are taking right now.
▶ 1:41:37Chair Paul: For two months we debated funding ice and border patrol and there was every opportunity to come to a compromise. The democratic solution was that they hate ice in order to control so much, that they love the unregulated young people came across against the law that they were not willing to come to a compromise. This bill is not a compromise. These are very strict rules. You have not adhered to the rules.
▶ 1:42:05Chair Paul: I have been advised by the budget commitment test committee that this does not comply with the rules of reconciliation and will threaten bills on the floor. I will oppose the amendment and urge my colleagues to do the same and move to table the amendment. Without objection? Clerk will call the roll. >> Sen. johnson? >> aye. >> Sen. lankford? >> aye. >> Sen. scott? >> aye. >> Sen. hawley? >> aye. >> Sen. moreno? >> Sen. ernst? >> Sen. moody? >> Sen. peters? >> no. >> Sen. hassan? >> no. >> Sen. blumenthal?
▶ 1:42:35Chair Paul: >> no. >> Sen. fetterman? >> no by proxy. >> Sen. kim? >> no. >> Sen. gallego? >> no by proxy. >> Sen. slotkin? >> Sen. paul? Yay. >> on the vote of those present, >> on this vote, the yays are 8, the nays are 7. The motion is agreed to.
▶ 1:42:59Chair Paul: Are there further amendments?
▶ 1:43:03Sen. Peters: I would like to introduce peter's amendment 136. It provides $8 billion to the cybersecurity infrastructure security agency for the next four years.
▶ 1:43:18Sen. Peters: Cisa is the backbone of the national cybersecurity defense in given what are nation faces in terms of threats in cyberspace from adversaries like iran, russia, and china, and the growing role of ai in exploiting cybersecurity vulnerabilities, it is essential that we protect and secure critical infrastructure.
▶ 1:43:43Sen. Peters: Americans depend on secure communications, energy, financial systems, hospitals, every single hour of the day. I would encourage my colleagues to vote yes on this critical amendment.
▶ 1:43:55Chair Paul: I have been advised by the budget committee that the amendment does not comply with the rules of the reconciliation process and threaten the bill on the floor. I knew -- urge my colleagues about the same. The clerk will call the roll. >> Sen. johnson? >> Sen. lankford? >> aye. >> Sen. scott? >> aye. >> Sen. hawley? >> aye. >> Sen. moreno? >> Sen. ernst? >> aye by proxy. >> Sen. moody? >> Sen. peters? >> no. >> Sen. hassan? >> no.
▶ 1:44:25Chair Paul: >> Sen. blumenthal? >> no. >> Sen. fetterman? >> no by proxy. >> Sen. kim? >> no. >> Sen. gallego? >> no by proxy. >> Sen. slotkin? >> Sen. paul? Aye. >> on this vote, the yays are 8, the nays are 7. The motion is agreed to.
▶ 1:44:51Chair Paul: Further amendments?
▶ 1:44:53Sen. Peters: Mr. chairman, I would like to introduce peters amendment 168 as modified. In seeks to provide the U.S. coast guard with funds to support maritime drug interactions. The administration is using the military to strike fishing boats, violating the law and undermining the long-standing efforts of the coast guard to -- interdict drugs at sea and pursue doj prosecutions to dismantle criminal networks.
▶ 1:45:22Sen. Peters: We have to do the work to make sure dhs has the authority necessary to combat drug trafficking and lets make sure that the coast guard has the necessary resources to continue conducting standard law enforcement powers on drug interdiction's and I would urge adoption of my amendment.
▶ 1:45:44Chair Paul: I've been advised that this amendment does not comply with reconciliation and will threaten to build on the floor. I will oppose the amendment and urge my colleagues to do the same.
▶ 1:45:55Sen. Peters: I object.
▶ 1:45:57Chair Paul: Clerk will call the roll. >> Sen. johnson? >> aye. >> Sen. lankford? >> aye. >> Sen. scott? >> aye. >> Sen. hawley? >> Sen. moreno? >> aye by proxy. >> Sen. ernst? >> Sen. moody? >> Sen. peters? >> no. >> Sen. hassan? >> no. >> Sen. blumenthal? >> no. >> Sen. fetterman? >> no by proxy. >> Sen. kim? >> Sen. gallego? >> no by proxy. >> Sen. slotkin? >> no. >> Sen. paul? Aye.
▶ 1:46:28Chair Paul: >> on this vote, the yays are 8, the nays are 7. The motion is agreed to.
▶ 1:46:35Chair Paul: Are there any further amendments? Senator peters?
▶ 1:46:40Sen. Peters: Moved to consider peters amendment 134. We are more than two months into a war with iran and its proxies. Just last week we saw doj charge and iraqi militia leader with involvement in multiple attacks on jewish sites in europe. Planning to attack three bang synagogues here in the united states.
▶ 1:47:07Sen. Peters: While our law enforcement and intelligence community continue to do excellent work, in the last year the administration has basically dismantled key elements of the counterterrorism infrastructure. The white house has fired personnel at the department of justice and fbi associated with investigations that the president doesn't like.
▶ 1:47:28Sen. Peters: He cut sessa, our cybersecurity agency by one third, delaying and politicizing fema with grants to state and local law enforcement and nonprofit organizations that would help us to address the serious threats. All of us support sensible immigration enforcement. At a time of heightened terrorist threats to americans, we cannot take our eye off the ball.
▶ 1:47:53Sen. Peters: We cannot lose focus of the serious terror threats facing our homeland and this amendment will ensure the funding that we need to combat these very real threats and I would urge my colleagues to support it.
▶ 1:48:05Chair Paul: I have been advised by the budget committee that none of the amendments presented by the democrats today will comply with the rules of the reconciliation process and all of them will threaten the privilege of the bill on the floor. I will oppose this amendment in the rest of the amendments and moved to table each one of them in succession. I moved to table this. Urge my colleagues to the same. Clerk will call the roll. >> Sen. johnson?
▶ 1:48:35Chair Paul: >> aye. >> Sen. lankford? >> aye. >> Sen. scott? >> aye. >> Sen. hawley? >> aye. >> Sen. moreno? >> Sen. ernst? >> aye by proxy. >> Sen. moody? >> Sen. peters? >> no. >> Sen. hassan? >> no. >> Sen. blumenthal? >> no. >> Sen. fetterman? >> no by proxy. >> Sen. kim? >> no. >> Sen. gallego? >> no by proxy. >> Sen. slotkin? >> no. >> Sen. paul?
▶ 1:48:55Chair Paul: Aye. >> on this vote, the yays are 8, the nays are 7. The motion is agreed to.
▶ 1:49:07Chair Paul: Are there further amendments?
▶ 1:49:11Sen. Peters: Mr. chairman, I would like to introduce peters amendment 120 one as modified. It would move $1 million to the administration for strategic preparedness and response to prevent future infectious disease outbreaks including those potentially caused by junta virus ebola virus.
▶ 1:49:38Sen. Peters: 6.5 years ago during the first trump administration the covid-19 pandemic started. As documented in my report, the presidential response to covid was deeply flawed. The consequences were absolutely tragic.
▶ 1:49:56Sen. Peters: Despite loudly complaining about depleted strategic national stockpile, the president has not made the investment necessary to replenish it since returning to office, failure the current costs lives when the next outbreak inevitably occurs.
▶ 1:50:16Sen. Peters: With drastic cuts to public health resources and other proposed cuts, we are not prepared for future pandemic and we must reverse course before it is too late and would urge my colleagues to support the amendment.
▶ 1:50:28Chair Paul: Moved to table. Without objection, the clerk will call the roll. >> Sen. johnson? >> aye. >> Sen. lankford? >> aye. >> Sen. scott? >> aye. >> Sen. hawley? >> aye. >> Sen. moreno? >> Sen. ernst? >> aye by proxy. >> Sen. moody? >> Sen. peters? >> no. >> Sen. hassan? >> no. >> Sen. blumenthal? >> no. >> Sen. fetterman? >> no by proxy. >> Sen. kim? >> no. >> Sen. gallego? >> no by proxy. >> Sen. slotkin?
▶ 1:51:02Chair Paul: >> Sen. paul?
▶ 1:51:02Chair Paul: Aye. >> >> on this vote, the yays are 8, the nays are 7. The motion is agreed to.
▶ 1:51:14Chair Paul: Are there further amendments?
▶ 1:51:20Senator Hassan: I offer my amendment, hassan 32, an amendment that simply reallocate's funds within the department, so it is compliant with the bird rule, even if it were to apply to this process, which as we have noted it does not. The american people have been clear about their priorities.
▶ 1:51:41Senator Hassan: They want lower costs and want their families safe, but instead the president spends is a tension building monuments to honor himself, including extravagant gilded ballroom. In a democracy like ours leaders should use taxpayer dollars to serve the people, not build golden monuments to themselves. This amendment would divert the $1 billion in ballroom funds to be used for an actually important priority, counter child sex exploitation.
▶ 1:52:11Senator Hassan: I urge my colleagues to vote yes on this amendment and really challenge anyone to explain why a transfer within the department to a function that the department is supposed to address would violate the byrd rule. It again suggests that if people vote to table the amendment that they are using the procedural process as a pretext simply because they do not want to cross president trump.
▶ 1:52:37Senator Hassan: So, I think that this funding would be better served in an effort to combat child exploitation rather than for a vanity project for the president. I asked for the yeas and nays.
▶ 1:52:51Chair Paul: There is no money in the bill for the ballroom. I moved to table. Without objection? Clerk will call the roll. >> Sen. johnson? >> Sen. lankford? >> Sen. scott? >> Sen. hawley? >> aye. >> Sen. moreno? >> Sen. ernst? >> aye by proxy. >> Sen. moody? >> Sen. peters? >> no. >> Sen. hassan? >> no. >> Sen. blumenthal? >> no. >> Sen. fetterman? >> no by proxy. >> Sen. kim? >> no. >> Sen. gallego? >> no by proxy. >> Sen. slotkin?
▶ 1:53:21Chair Paul: >> Sen. paul?
▶ 1:53:22Chair Paul: Aye. >> on this vote, the yays are 8, the nays are 7. The motion is agreed to.
▶ 1:53:34Chair Paul: Are there further amendments?
▶ 1:53:37Sen. Hassan: I offer my amendment, hassan 33, again complaint the first, if bird were to apply to reconciliation, which as we have discussed it does not. We live in a dangerous world, Mr. chair, and there is no more important job for our government then keeping people safe, including from terrorists.
▶ 1:54:01Sen. Hassan: Instead of focusing on the priorities of the people, keeping people safe and lowering costs, the president instead builds his days -- spends his days building monuments for himself like his new gold ballroom. This would redirect the $100 billion in ballroom funds for the critical work of the national council servers in the center and I urge my colleagues to vote yes and stand up to the president, he should be focused on serving and protecting the people, not honoring and flattering his own ego.
▶ 1:54:32Chair Paul: Once again, there is no money in the bill before us for a ballroom. Moved to table.
▶ 1:54:38Sen. Hassan: I object.
▶ 1:54:39Chair Paul: Clerk will call the roll. >> Sen. johnson? >> aye. >> Sen. lankford? >> aye. >> Sen. scott? >> aye. >> Sen. hawley? >> aye. >> Sen. moreno? >> Sen. ernst? >> aye by proxy. >> Sen. moody? >> Sen. peters? >> no. >> Sen. hassan? >> no. >> Sen. blumenthal? >> no. >> Sen. fetterman? >> no by proxy. >> Sen. kim? >> no. >> Sen. gallego? >> no by proxy. >> Sen. slotkin? >> Sen. paul?
▶ 1:55:08Chair Paul: Aye. >> on this vote, the yays are 8, the nays are 7. The motion is agreed.
▶ 1:55:20Chair Paul: Further amendments?
▶ 1:55:23Sen. Peters: I would like to introduce peters amendment 87. This amendment would return all unspent funds from the one big beautiful bill act to the united states treasury for the purposes of reducing the national deficit.
▶ 1:55:44Sen. Peters: The president's so-called one big beautiful bill significantly reduced federal revenues through massive tax cuts to the wealthy and is projected to add, it's a big number, four point $2 trillion to the national debt over the coming decade. Our ever increasing national debt officially surpassed the size of our economy earlier this month.
▶ 1:56:10Sen. Peters: Without further action or progress from congress to bring in additional revenue or cut other places, the U.S. will continue barreling down this fiscally unsustainable path. Such high rising debt would have damaging economic and geopolitical consequences. I know many of my republican colleagues do not support some of these amendments that we have been putting forward but I would hope that they would agree that we need to reduce the national deficit.
▶ 1:56:39Sen. Peters: We have to do this on a bipartisan basis. Let's not use procedural gimmicks to get around the fact that we need to reduce the national deficit and that's what this amendment does. My republican colleagues are glossing over in all of our previous reconciliations, we counted the markups before the bird bath, and this is clearly compliant.
▶ 1:57:07Sen. Peters: Now that all republicans are racing to meet the arbitrary deadline just to rubberstamp the president, let's make a statement to the american people right now we want to reduce the deficit in a bipartisan way because the american people demand it. Let's not hide behind procedural gimmicks. I urge adoption on this amendment.
▶ 1:57:26Chair Paul: This amendment is disingenuous. No one in the senate is objecting to spending more than me. In the last two years I have 50 amendments on the floor to reduce spending and not one democrat has supported any of the amendments I proposed to reduce spending. I find this as presented to be disingenuous, doesn't comply with the rules, I moved to table.
▶ 1:57:50Sen. Peters: Objection. Roll call.
▶ 1:57:53Chair Paul: Clerk will call the roll. >> Sen. johnson? >> aye. >> Sen. lankford? >> aye. >> Sen. scott? >> aye. >> Sen. hawley? >> aye. >> Sen. moreno? >> Sen. ernst? >> aye by proxy. >> Sen. moody? >> Sen. peters? >> no. >> Sen. hassan? >> no. >> Sen. blumenthal? >> no. >> Sen. fetterman? >> no by proxy. >> Sen. kim? >> no. >> Sen. gallego? >> no by proxy. >> Sen. slotkin? >> Sen. paul?
▶ 1:58:19Chair Paul: Aye. >> on this vote, the yays are 8, the nays are 7. The motion is agreed to.
▶ 1:58:35Chair Paul: Are there further amendments?
▶ 1:58:39Sen. Hassan: I call up pass amendment number 43. Again, this is compliant with the byrd rule, should it apply to this process, which it is not. People across the country are struggling with high costs, but it is not a priority for the president. His passion is instead building himself a massive gilded ballroom. While people struggle to afford mortgage or rent, the president seeks to build himself a palace.
▶ 1:59:10Sen. Hassan: The president should listen to the people and work to lower costs instead of raising buildings in his honor. My amendment would prohibit the president from using taxpayer dollars for his gilded vanity project rather than using the money to actually help americans. As you have said, the latest language does not include funding for the ballroom, and it should not be difficult for all of us to prohibit any funding in this bill to go to the ballroom and I asked for the yeas and nays.
▶ 1:59:40Chair Paul: It's hard to remove something from the bill that isn't in the bill. There is no money in the bill for a ballroom. It doesn't make logical sense.
▶ 1:59:49Sen. Hassan: It prohibits. Objection. I call for the gays and nays. >> Sen. johnson? >> aye. >> Sen. lankford? >> aye. >> Sen. scott? >> aye. >> Sen. hawley? >> aye. >> Sen. moreno? >> Sen. ernst? >> aye by proxy. >> Sen. moody? >> Sen. peters? >> no. >> Sen. hassan? >> no. >> Sen. blumenthal? >> no. >> Sen. fetterman? >> no by proxy. >> Sen. kim? >> no. >> Sen. gallego? >> no by proxy. >> Sen. slotkin? >> Sen. paul?
▶ 2:00:19Chair Paul: Aye. >> Mr. chairman, on the vote of those present, the yeas are 7, the nos are 5. >> on this vote, the yays are 8, the nays are 7. The motion is agreed to.
▶ 2:00:44Senator Blumenthal: If anyone wonders why the president or members of congress are out of touch with what is on the minds of the american people, they have only to look at the failure of this committee to deal with the merits of the ballroom.
▶ 2:01:14Senator Blumenthal: It's a monstrosity. Americans were repulsed by the east wing tear down then the president told us that the ballroom would not interfere with the white house, when in fact it is an architectural monstrosity. They said that the capacity of the ballroom 650 people. Then they revised it to over 1000. They said that it would costs over 200 million.
▶ 2:01:39Senator Blumenthal: The price then rose to 250 million, 300 50 million, 400 million. They said that the construction of the ballroom would be done entirely with financing by private donors. Now they are seeking taxpayer money, $1 billion, telling us they cannot finish the project without the funds. Adding insult to injury, they have refused to tell us who the private donors are.
▶ 2:02:12Senator Blumenthal: My permanent subcommittee on investigations staff is investigating who the donors are. In fact, there is abundant evidence that it's a pay to play scheme. That they are seeking favors in return for those donations. That's why I'm offering a series of amendments.
▶ 2:02:41Senator Blumenthal: It's not only about the architectural monstrosity, the waste of money, it's also about waste within the government. I call a blumenthal amendment 34 and ask for a roll call vote, because the white house has claimed that the ballroom would be entirely financed through these private donations and the american people deserve to know who is donating, why, what they may be getting in return, what solicitations there have been,
▶ 2:03:11Senator Blumenthal: What contracts. And whether any of those individuals or corporations are seeking favored treatment. Favored treatment from regulatory agencies or contracts from the government.
▶ 2:03:28Chair Paul: There is no money in the bill for a ballroom. I moved to table the amendment.
▶ 2:03:33Sen. Blumenthal: Roll call vote.
▶ 2:03:35Chair Paul: Clerk will call the roll. >> Sen. johnson? >> aye. >> Sen. lankford? >> aye. >> Sen. scott? >> Sen. hawley? >> Sen. moreno? >> Sen. ernst? >> aye by proxy. >> Sen. moody? >> Sen. peters? >> no. >> Sen. hassan? >> no. >> Sen. blumenthal? >> Sen. fetterman? >> no by proxy. >> Sen. kim? >> Sen. gallego? >> no by proxy. >> Sen. slotkin? >> Sen. paul?
▶ 2:04:02Chair Paul: Aye. >> Mr. chairman, on the vote of those present, the yeas are 7, the nos are 5. >> on this vote, the yays are 8, the nays are 7. The motion is agreed to.
▶ 2:04:15Chair Paul: Are there further amendments?
▶ 2:04:18Sen. Blumenthal: Blumenthal amendment 33, the administration has made a habit of awarding no-bid arbitrary contracts to favored firms. The committee on investigations has written to the architect's contractors and engineers seeking basic details about the process of awarding contracts to build the ballroom.
▶ 2:04:47Sen. Blumenthal: This amendment would simply require that the white house use the normal competitive process in awarding contracts to build the ballroom.
▶ 2:05:00Chair Paul: I moved to table. Without objection? The clerk will call the roll. >> Sen. johnson? >> aye. >> Sen. lankford? >> aye. >> Sen. scott? >> aye. >> Sen. hawley? >> Sen. moreno? >> Sen. ernst? >> aye by proxy. >> Sen. moody? >> Sen. peters? >> no. >> Sen. hassan? >> no. >> Sen. blumenthal? >> no. >> Sen. fetterman? >> no by proxy. >> Sen. kim? >> no. >> Sen. gallego? >> no by proxy. >> Sen. slotkin? >> no. >> Sen. paul?
▶ 2:05:31Chair Paul: Aye. >> Mr. chairman, on the vote of those present, the yeas are 7, the nos are 5. >> on this vote, the yays are 8, the nays are 7. The motion is agreed to.
▶ 2:05:45Senator Blumenthal: I ask for consideration on blumenthal 37. We have all seen trump gutting the commissions responsible for approving projects in washington, D.C. and the national planning commission. It's been restocked with administration cronies.
▶ 2:06:15Senator Blumenthal: Weekend as the commissions are, the white house is still refused to provide them with sufficient information on ballroom construction. Meaningful oversight. Meaningful oversight of the ballroom has to come from congress. We need information that the white house is refusing but to provide.
▶ 2:06:35Senator Blumenthal: This amendment would create a district of columbia oversight panel modeled after the congressional oversight panel modeled in the great financial crisis to monitor the bailout. It would be bipartisan.
▶ 2:06:50Senator Blumenthal: It would sit outside of the executive branch to assure that it's adequately informed and it would cover the ballroom and other projects here in washington, like the so-called arc of trump and the repainting of the reflecting pool, focusing on the financing of projects and the terms of the contracts.
▶ 2:07:13Senator Blumenthal: It would be not only bipartisan, but membership appointed by congressional leadership and the mayor to ensure that it is in fact bipartisan in oversight and I ask for a roll call vote.
▶ 2:07:31Chair Paul: I'm on the planning commission, the vote was 8-1 in favor of letting the president add to the white house. I know of no argument that anything appropriate has been done and that the commission has done it by law and statute. You could bring up a law to try to change that to cast aspersions on the committee I sit on, I object to. I moved to table the commitment, there is no money for the ballroom in this bill.
▶ 2:07:58Sen. Blumenthal: I ask for a roll call vote. >> Sen. johnson? >> aye. >> Sen. lankford? >> aye. >> Sen. scott? >> Sen. hawley? >> Sen. moreno? >> aye. >> Sen. ernst? >> Sen. moody? >> Sen. peters? >> no. >> Sen. hassan? >> no. >> Sen. blumenthal? >> Sen. fetterman? >> no by proxy. >> Sen. kim? >> no. >> Sen. gallego? >> no by proxy. >> Sen. slotkin? >> no. >> Sen. paul?
▶ 2:08:24Chair Paul: Aye. >> Mr. chairman, on the vote of those present, the yeas are 7, the nos are 5. On this vote, the yays are 8, the nays are 7. The motion is agreed to.
▶ 2:08:44Chair Paul: Any further amendments?
▶ 2:08:46Sen. Blumenthal: I asked for consideration a blumenthal 35. This amendment is so basic and simple, I don't know how my republican colleagues can possibly hide from it. Invoking this formulaic gimmick that they have done. The trump administration is asking for taxpayer money for this ballroom boondoggle.
▶ 2:09:18Sen. Blumenthal: But the president refuses to provide to congress basic information and denies the american people that information. Like -- how big is the ballroom? What will it look like? When will it be finished? Most importantly, what will be the actual total costs?
▶ 2:09:38Sen. Blumenthal: This administration would require the gao, a bipartisan professional organization, to make public a report on important details of this project, including the sources of funds and the terms of its construction. Congress and the american people deserve to know what we are getting for the billion dollars or more that american taxpayers are shelling out for this.
▶ 2:10:13Sen. Blumenthal: This goldplated monstrosity.
▶ 2:10:16Chair Paul: The bill we are addressing today has no money for the ballroom. I moved to table the amendment. Without objection?
▶ 2:10:25Sen. Blumenthal: I ask for a roll call vote.
▶ 2:10:28Chair Paul: The clerk will call the roll. >> Sen. johnson? >> aye. >> Sen. lankford? >> aye. >> Sen. scott? >> aye. >> Sen. hawley? >> Sen. moreno? >> Sen. ernst? >> aye. >> Sen. moody? >> aye. >> Sen. peters? >> no. >> Sen. hassan? >> no. >> Sen. blumenthal? >> no. >> Sen. fetterman? >> no by proxy. >> Sen. kim? >> no. >> Sen. gallego? >> no. >> no by proxy. >> Sen. slotkin? >> no. >> Sen. paul?
▶ 2:10:53Chair Paul: Aye. >> Mr. chairman, on the vote of those present, the yeas are 7, the nos are 5. On this vote, the yays are 8, the nays are 7. The motion is agreed to.
▶ 2:11:05Chair Paul: Are there further amendments?
▶ 2:11:09Sen. Blumenthal: Mr. chairman, I called up blumenthal amendment 38. Not long ago, Mr. chairman, I offered a measure called the no palaces act.
▶ 2:11:25Sen. Blumenthal: Basically it puts some guardrails and safeguards on the white house construction and demolition process, including requiring congressional authorization for the use of private funds for improvement of the white house. Now, I'm not sure that the president of the united states realizes it, but it isn't his house. It's the people's house. It doesn't belong to donald trump.
▶ 2:11:54Sen. Blumenthal: It belongs to the american people. He occupies it for a. Of time. The white house has stacked the ncp cnc psa with cronies and lackeys who have failed to provide scrutiny over what he's doing to the white house. I have offered amendments to require more information.
▶ 2:12:22Sen. Blumenthal: This amendment would insert I know palaces act that puts additional guardrails on white house construction and demolition process. One very salient point for this committee's review that it establishes a right of action for individuals and institutions, including any member of congress. Any member of congress to bring a civil action to the U.S.
▶ 2:12:56Sen. Blumenthal: District court, seeking injunctive relief, enforcing the law. But we have here is an absence of person. The law is dead letter if not enforced. For most of my career, I was an enforcer.
▶ 2:13:11Sen. Blumenthal: What we need here is alternative access to the judicial process to enforce safeguards and guardrails on the president's arbitrary and illegal destruction of our house, the white house.
▶ 2:13:28Chair Paul: There is nothing in the bill before us to fund a ballroom. I moved to table the amendment. Without objection?
▶ 2:13:36Sen. Blumenthal: I asked for a recorded vote.
▶ 2:13:39Chair Paul: The clerk will call the roll. >> Sen. johnson? >> Sen. lankford? >> aye. >> Sen. scott? >> aye. >> Sen. hawley? >> aye. >> Sen. moreno? >> aye. >> Sen. ernst? >> aye. >> Sen. moody? >> Sen. peters? >> aye by proxy. >> Sen. hassan? >> aye by proxy. >> Sen. blumenthal? >> aye by proxy. >> Sen. fetterman? >> aye by proxy. >> Sen. kim?
▶ 2:14:11Chair Paul: >> Sen. gallego? >> no. >> no. >> Sen. slotkin? >> no. >> Sen. paul?
▶ 2:14:17Chair Paul: Aye. By proxy. In person. [laughter] >> on the vote of those present, on this vote, the yays are 8, the nays are 7. The motion is agreed to.
▶ 2:14:33Chair Paul: Are there further amendments?
▶ 2:14:36Sen. Blumenthal: I call up blumenthal amendment 73. There has been a lot of public reporting, I am sure that we have all seen it, indicating some dhs contracts under former secretary kristi noem were awarded on a no-bid expedited basis without full and open competition and may have benefited department officials or businesses connected to them.
▶ 2:15:11Sen. Blumenthal: Among them, two of them collectively worth $220 million were awarded to two firms, save america media llc and people who think llc, to produce an ad campaign feature -- featuring none other than former secretary kristi noem.
▶ 2:15:30Sen. Blumenthal: Save american media subcontracted work to this strategy group, a company run by the husband of the former dhs assistant secretary, tricia mcglocklin.
▶ 2:15:48Sen. Blumenthal: The strategy group spent $20,000 in taxpayer dollars on course rentals and almost $4000 on hair and makeup for what amounted to glorified ads for then secretary wrote -- secretary noem. Senator welch and I have written to dhs and both contractors are requesting detailed information and records. We have received no substantive information or records.
▶ 2:16:19Sen. Blumenthal: So, this simple amendment ensures that our committee and colleagues in the house at the opportunity to conduct appropriate oversight of these highly questionable contracts. Americans are struggling to make ends meet. We all know it from our constituents. This administration is essentially covering up its waste of taxpayer money on what amounts to political advertisements for governor of -- government officials.
▶ 2:16:50Chair Paul: I'm advised that this does not comply with the rules and I moved to table. Without objection?
▶ 2:16:57Sen. Blumenthal: I ask for a roll call vote. >> Sen. johnson? >> aye. >> Sen. lankford? >> aye. >> Sen. scott? >> aye. >> Sen. hawley? >> aye. >> Sen. moreno? >> Sen. ernst? >> aye. >> Sen. moody? >> aye. >> Sen. peters? >> no. >> Sen. hassan? >> no. >> Sen. blumenthal? >> no. >> Sen. fetterman? >> no by proxy. >> Sen. kim? >> no. >> Sen. gallego? >> no. >> no by proxy. >> Sen. slotkin? >> no. >> Sen. paul?
▶ 2:17:29Chair Paul: Aye. >> Mr. chairman, on the vote of those present, the yeas are 7, the nos are 5. On this vote, the yays are 8, the nays are 7. The motion is agreed to.
▶ 2:17:42Chair Paul: Further amendments?
▶ 2:17:45Sen. Blumenthal: Mr. chairman, I call up blumenthal 69. Everybody here knows what happened on january 6. We've seen the videos. Most of us lived through it.
▶ 2:18:07Sen. Blumenthal: Many of us in this room were in the temporary holding room, where brains law enforcement officers guarded us. Many of the same officers and many of us those there are that they had no respect for those officers and many were convicted of assaulting all the answers.
▶ 2:18:43Sen. Blumenthal: Jillian cater sprayed U.S. capitol police officer brian sicknick with pepper spray. Officer sicknick died the next day. Cater admitted his violence and pled guilty to us -- to assaulting officers with a deadly weapon. He was sentenced to 6.5 years in prison for his crimes against law enforcement.
▶ 2:19:11Sen. Blumenthal: Before he was pardoned by president trump, also those were convicted, sentenced to prison and this amendment would ensure that these men in the early 200 others like them were convicted for attacking law enforcement officers and who could never in can never receive payments from
▶ 2:19:41Sen. Blumenthal: The government for this should not be hard vote for a noon as -- room, whether you support law enforcement or specifically the men and women who gave their lives to protect us, or if you want to reward lawbreaking and violence against law
▶ 2:20:11Sen. Blumenthal: Enforcement. With payment to lawbreakers, convicted, so thing and in some cases shooting to the deaths of law enforcement officers.
▶ 2:20:31Chair Paul: I've been advised that this amendment does not comply with the rules in a mood to table. Without objection? The clerk will. >> Sen. johnson? >> aye. >> Sen. lankford? >> aye. >> Sen. scott? >> aye. >> Sen. hawley? >> aye. >> Sen. moreno? >> Sen. ernst? >> aye. >> Sen. moody? >> Sen. peters? >> aye. >> aye by proxy. >> Sen. hassan? >> no. >> Sen. blumenthal? >> no. >> Sen. fetterman? >> no. >> Sen. kim? >> no.
▶ 2:21:01Chair Paul: >> Sen. gallego? >> no. >> Sen. slotkin? >> no. >> Sen. paul?
▶ 2:21:06Chair Paul: Aye. >> Mr. chairman, on the vote of those present, the yeas are 7, the nos are 5. On this vote, the yays are 8, the nays are 7. The motion is agreed to.
▶ 2:21:20Chair Paul: Are there further amendments?
▶ 2:21:28Senator Hassan: Mr. chairman, I think senator blumenthal.
▶ 2:21:30Sen. Blumenthal: I call up blumenthal 69.
▶ 2:21:38Chair Paul: Sen. peters: -- Sen.
▶ 2:21:53Blumenthal: Yesterday we learned that the president formalize a plan to create a slush fund weaponization. This funding will allow among other things january 6 writers, the same people who were a the capital and law enforcement officers, defending it, to get payments from the government.
▶ 2:22:23Blumenthal: I am aware of five that should be barred from receiving that money. These five pardonees have been convicted of sex crimes against children. Sex crimes against children. Sex abuse of minors.
▶ 2:22:43Blumenthal: Possession of csam and the like. Pardoned by the president. Andrew paul johnson was sentenced to a year for his crimes. President trump gave him his freedom. March of this year he was sentenced to life in prison for sexually abusing two middle school children in florida.
▶ 2:23:12Blumenthal: Notably, johnson tried to keep the children quiet by saying he would give the means of dollars. Where would he get this money? From the restitution he expected from the january 6 case. Yesterday, the president announced that he wanted to give johnson and others like him the money that johnson thought he was going to used to silence the victims of his crime.
▶ 2:23:45Blumenthal: This vote ought to be easy for my colleagues.
▶ 2:23:47Chair Paul: Moved to table, without objection.
▶ 2:23:51Sen. Blumenthal: Objection.
▶ 2:23:53Chair Paul: Clerk will call the roll. >> Sen. johnson? >> Sen. lankford? >> aye. >> Sen. scott? >> aye. >> Sen. hawley? >> aye. >> Sen. moreno? >> aye. >> Sen. ernst? >> Sen. moody? >> Sen. peters? >> no. >> Sen. hassan? >> no. >> Sen. blumenthal? >> no. >> Sen. fetterman? >> no by proxy. >> Sen. kim? >> no. >> Sen. gallego? >> no by proxy. >> Sen. slotkin? >> no. >> Sen. paul?
▶ 2:24:17Chair Paul: Aye. >> Mr. chairman, on the vote of those present, the yeas are 8, the nos are 5. On this vote, the yays are 8, the nays are 7. The motion is agreed to.
▶ 2:24:33Chair Paul: Further amendments?
▶ 2:24:38Senator Hassan: I offer my amendment, hassan 28, complying with four with the bird process if it applied to this procedure, which it does not. The american people put their trust in their leaders, including the department of home and security, to keep americans safe, which is why I am appalled that the former dhs secretary use millions to essentially run a political ad to support herself.
▶ 2:25:09Senator Hassan: The corruption and self-dealing in the administration must be held to account. Hard-working people should not see their tax money go to pay for political ads for personal advancement. The amendment would require dhs to review all public affairs contracts to identify conflicts of interest involving homeland security officials with funding to complete the review within the dhs purview.
▶ 2:25:39Chair Paul: I have been advised by the budget committee that none of the amendments presented by the democrats today will comply with the rules of the reconciliation process and all of them will threaten the privilege of the bill on the floor. I will oppose this amendment in the rest of the amendments and moved to table each one of them in succession. I move to table this and urge my colleagues to the same.
▶ 2:25:48Chair Paul: Clerk will call the roll. >> Sen. johnson? >> aye. >> Sen. lankford? >> aye. >> Sen. scott? >> aye. >> Sen. hawley? >> aye. >> Sen. moreno? >> Sen. ernst? >> Sen. moody? >> aye. >> Sen. peters? >> no. >> Sen. hassan? >> no. >> Sen. blumenthal? >> no. >> Sen. fetterman? >> no by proxy. >> Sen. kim? >> no. >> Sen. gallego? >> no by proxy. >> Sen. slotkin? >> no. >> Sen. paul?
▶ 2:26:15Chair Paul: Aye. >> Mr. chairman, on the vote of those present, the yeas are 8, the nos are 5. On this vote, the yays are 8, the nays are 7. The motion is agreed to.
▶ 2:26:30Chair Paul: Are there any further amendments?
▶ 2:26:36Senator Hassan: Mr. chair, I offer hassan 27. Under this administration there has been a rise in corruption, self-dealing, and public funds for self-promotion unlike any in our country's history, including by the way something this committee has attempted to regulate in the past, insider trading, stock trading, by the president of the united states.
▶ 2:27:02Senator Hassan: We tried to put forward legislation that would control congressional insider training, -- trading, or ban it, but the president has decided it is ok for them to do.
▶ 2:27:16Senator Hassan: I want to turn at this moment to the very idea that corey lewandowski who was working as a consultant, apparently, for dhs, was reportedly telling companies that they would need to pay him personally if they wanted government business. That is at odds with the respect for the rule of law that should be at the heart of the department of homeland security and that law enforcement officers embody every day.
▶ 2:27:43Senator Hassan: We need to find out more about the conflicts of special interest, privileges, and self-dealing that may have been done on the dime of the taxpayer . My amendment would provide funding to review conflicts of interest with special government employees like Mr. lewandowski, compliant with bird if bird were to apply, and I urge my colleagues to vote yes.
▶ 2:28:07Chair Paul: I have been advised by the budget committee that none of the amendments presented by the democrats today will comply with the rules of the reconciliation process and all of them will threaten the privilege of the bill on the floor. I will oppose this amendment in the rest of the amendments and moved to table each one of them in succession. I move to table this and urge my colleagues to the same.
▶ 2:28:16Sen. Hassan: Objection.
▶ 2:28:16Chair Paul: Clerk will call the roll. >> Sen. johnson? >> Sen. lankford? >> aye. >> Sen. scott? >> aye. >> Sen. hawley? >> aye. >> Sen. moreno? >> Sen. ernst? >> aye. >> Sen. moody? >> aye. >> Sen. peters? >> no. >> Sen. hassan? >> no. >> Sen. blumenthal? >> no. >> Sen. fetterman? >> no by proxy. >> Sen. kim? >> no. >> Sen. gallego? >> no by proxy. >> Sen. slotkin? >> no. >> Sen. paul?
▶ 2:28:39Chair Paul: Aye. >> Mr. chairman, on the vote of those present, the yeas are 8, the nos are 5. On this vote, the yays are 8, the nays are 7. The motion is agreed to.
▶ 2:28:51Chair Paul: Any further amendments?
▶ 2:28:57Senator Slotkin: Calling of amendment 14, slotkin, putting aside a small amount of money to implement a ban on insider trading and prediction markets. I want to actually, coming towards the end here, I want to thank senator moreno.
▶ 2:29:12Senator Slotkin: I think everyone knows that we change the rules in the senate so that senators can now not bad on production -- friction markets to make money off of the information we get here in classified or sensitive briefings and I commend senator moreno on that and think we should extended to the entire executive branch and I have a bipartisan bill on this for.
▶ 2:29:35Senator Slotkin: To review, the bidding before they iran war started, 150 polymarket accounts predicted a U.S. strike and january 2, before the venezuela, we had a traitor earn about $400,000 by betting on the strike. Just nine polymarket accounts, totaling $2.4 million, bet on exclusively on military operations with a 98% success rate.
▶ 2:30:05Senator Slotkin: This amendment would give a small amount of money for implementing but should be a ban, not just for us but for anyone in government service, whether you are a career civilian, uniformed military, or political appointee.
▶ 2:30:20Senator Slotkin: This comes on the heels of a raft of information that the committee has worked hard on, actually passing bipartisan legislation here in this body on banning struck trading based on insider information, commending colleagues on the other side of the aisle who have been highlighting this and it's hard to miss that the president has been making incredible numbers of trades, making deals the next day, not least of which on things like nvidia, sensitive chips, days before he struck a
▶ 2:30:51Senator Slotkin: Deal with the chinese. I urge my colleagues to do with a can on the polymarket piece and I urge a yes vote.
▶ 2:30:58Chair Paul: I have been advised by the budget committee that none of the amendments presented by the democrats today will comply with the rules of the reconciliation process and all of them will threaten the privilege of the bill on the floor. I will oppose this amendment in the rest of the amendments and moved to table each one of them in succession. I move to table this and urge my colleagues to the same. Clerk will call the roll. >> Sen. johnson? >> aye. >> Sen. lankford? >> aye. >> Sen. scott? >> Sen. hawley? >> aye. >> Sen. moreno? >> Sen. ernst? >> aye. >> Sen. moody? >> aye. >> Sen. peters? >> no. >> Sen. hassan? >> no. >> Sen. blumenthal? >> no. >> Sen. fetterman? >> no by proxy. >> Sen. kim? >> no.
▶ 2:31:28Chair Paul: >> Sen. gallego? >> no. >> Sen. slotkin? >> no. >> Sen. paul?
▶ 2:31:32Chair Paul: Aye. >> Mr. chairman, on the vote of those present, the yeas are 8, the nos are 5. Vote by proxy, yasys are 2, nays are 2. On this vote, the yays are 8, the nays are 7.
▶ 2:31:52Chair Paul: Are there further amendments? Senator gallego. I offer this amendment for one simple reason. This week president trump dropped his lawsuit against the irs after the creation of a 1.77 6 billion taxpayer-funded compensation fund. Let that sink in.
▶ 2:32:16Chair Paul: The president of the united states suit his own government with the department of justice creating 2 billion to compensate himself and his allies and family. According to reports it could be used to compensate individuals involved in january 6, many of which assaulted capitol police and other law enforcement officers who put their lives on the line to defend the institution.
▶ 2:32:41Chair Paul: This guy, this guy, and this guy, potentially going to get payouts from the federal government for assaulting these police officers. So much for backing the blue. Taxpayer dollars should not support the people who attacked these officers. This is not justice. Right now americans are struggling with high prices and economic uncertainty.
▶ 2:33:05Chair Paul: Federal dollars should be used to lower costs for the american people, not as a slush fund for presidential allies. My amendment. It's the federal government from using taxpayer dollars on lawsuits fought by the president or for immediate allies with a fund towards the president, his family, or the traitors who attacked the capital. No president, republican or democrat, should be able to use the slush fund as a personal checkbook.
▶ 2:33:35Chair Paul: I've been advised that this amendment does not comply with the rules and I yield to table. Clerk will call the roll. >> Sen. johnson? >> aye. >> Sen. lankford? >> aye. >> Sen. scott? >> aye. >> Sen. hawley? >> aye. >> Sen. moreno? >> aye. >> Sen. ernst? >> aye. >> Sen. moody? >> aye. >> Sen. peters? >> no. >> Sen. hassan? >> no. >> Sen. blumenthal? >> no. >> Sen. fetterman? >> no by proxy. >> Sen. kim? >> no. >> Sen. gallego? >> no by proxy. >> Sen. slotkin? >> no. >> Sen. paul?
▶ 2:34:07Chair Paul: Aye. >> Mr. chairman, on the vote of those present, the yeas are 8, the nos are 5. On this vote, the yays are 8, the nays are 7. The motion is agreed to.
▶ 2:34:18Chair Paul: Are there further amendments?
▶ 2:34:21Sen. Peters: Mr. chairman.
▶ 2:34:23Chair Paul: Senator peters.
▶ 2:34:25Sen. Peters: Peters amendment 128 to provide the department of veteran affairs funding to expand and approve health care in housing for our veterans. Veterans have bravely served our country and upon return they earn benefits, health care, housing and more, that should be accessible and no veteran should you without these promised
▶ 2:34:55Sen. Peters: Veterans -- benefits and I would urge my colleagues to support the amendment.
▶ 2:34:59Chair Paul: I would like to remind folks that the votes today are on the reconciliation bill. You can have any policy want, provide money for anything we all support, but it can't be done on this bill, it's against the rules. The rules are specific on reconciliation. The budget committee has told us that this amendment doesn't comply with the rules, therefore I moved to table. >> objection.
▶ 2:35:26Chair Paul: Clerk will call the roll. >> Sen. johnson? >> aye. >> Sen. lankford? >> aye. >> Sen. scott? >> aye. >> Sen. hawley? >> aye. >> Sen. moreno? >> aye. >> Sen. ernst? >> aye. >> Sen. moody? >> Sen. peters? >> no. >> Sen. hassan? >> no. >> Sen. blumenthal? >> no. >> Sen. fetterman? >> no by proxy. >> Sen. kim? >> no. >> Sen. gallego? >> no by proxy. >> Sen. slotkin? >> Sen. paul?
▶ 2:35:53Chair Paul: Aye. >> Mr. chairman, on the vote of those present, the yeas are 8, the nos are 5. On this vote, the yays are 8, the nays are 7. The motion is agreed to.
▶ 2:36:06Chair Paul: Further amendments? Senator hassan?
▶ 2:36:12Senator Hassan: I offer my amendment, hassan 59, noting that the bird rule does not apply to the reconciliation process. High costs are pushing american families to the brink, including high health care costs. The president has made the challenge worse by ending the enhanced aca tax credits. I believe that new reporting says 5 million americans have since lost their health care.
▶ 2:36:39Senator Hassan: While americans struggle with high costs, the president is trying to build himself a golden ballroom. As families whose health care, the president builds himself a palace. Simply no justification for money to be spent on a golden ballroom rather than american taxpayers.
▶ 2:37:07Senator Hassan: This amendment would remove funding and restore the enhanced aca tax credits for two years. It would prohibit the use of one billion but directed for two years. I urge my colleagues to vote yes.
▶ 2:37:24Chair Paul: There is no money in the bill for the ballroom before us. I moved to table.
▶ 2:37:31Senator Hassan: I object. >> clerk will call the roll. >> Sen. johnson? >> aye. >> Sen. lankford? >> aye. >> Sen. scott? >> aye. >> Sen. hawley? >> aye. >> Sen. moreno? >> aye. >> Sen. ernst? >> Sen. moody? >> Sen. peters? >> no. >> Sen. hassan? >> no. >> Sen. blumenthal? >> no. >> Sen. fetterman? >> no by proxy. >> Sen. kim? >> no. >> Sen. gallego? >> no by proxy. >> Sen. slotkin? >> no. >> Sen. paul?
▶ 2:37:57Chair Paul: Aye. >> Mr. chairman, on the vote of those present, the yeas are 8, the nos are 5. On this vote, the yays are 8, the nays are 7. The motion is agreed to.
▶ 2:38:11Chair Paul: Are there further amendments?
▶ 2:38:14Sen. Peters: I would like to introduce peters amendment 140 two, transferring $100 billion in unspent funding from the big beautiful bill to provide relief for farmers. In michigan and across our country, farmers are facing high costs, everything from fuel to fertilizer, in part because of the president pause war of choice with the ron.
▶ 2:38:39Sen. Peters: This makes it more expensive to grow the food that feeds our country and ultimately raises prices on their groceries for our hard-working families that they see every day as they go into the grocery store and I would urge my colleagues to vote yes on this amendment.
▶ 2:38:53Chair Paul: I moved to table the amendment. The clerk will call the roll. >> Sen. johnson? >> Sen. lankford? >> aye. >> Sen. scott? >> aye. >> Sen. hawley? >> aye. >> Sen. moreno? >> Sen. ernst? >> Sen. moody? >> Sen. peters? >> no. >> Sen. hassan? >> no. >> Sen. blumenthal? >> no. >> Sen. fetterman? >> no by proxy. >> Sen. kim? >> no. >> Sen. gallego? >> no by proxy. >> Sen. slotkin? >> no. >> Sen. paul?
▶ 2:39:20Chair Paul: Aye. >> Mr. chairman, on the vote of those present, the yeas are 8, the nos are 5. On this vote, the yays are 8, the nays are 7. The motion is agreed to.
▶ 2:39:35Chair Paul: Are there further amendments?
▶ 2:39:39Senator Hassan: Yes, Mr. chair. For 250 years, america has been defined by the belief that we, the people, rule. Our country is not defined by one man, one party, or even one president. Few things are as un-american as draping the exterior of our government buildings with massive portraits of a president. That's what they do in authoritarian countries.
▶ 2:40:07Senator Hassan: My amendment would prohibit the use of taxpayer dollars to hang pictures of the current president on the exterior of federal buildings and I will note that it is compliant with the bird rule, even if it applied to this procedure, which does not. I urge my colleagues to vote yes, we touch our democracy is defined with the people, not one leader.
▶ 2:40:28Chair Paul: There is no money in this bill for a ballroom. I moved to table.
▶ 2:40:32Sen. Hassan: Objection.
▶ 2:40:34Chair Paul: Clerk will call the roll. >> Sen. johnson? >> aye. >> Sen. lankford? >> aye. >> Sen. scott? >> aye. >> Sen. hawley? >> Sen. moreno? >> Sen. ernst? >> Sen. moody? >> Sen. peters? >> no. >> Sen. hassan? >> no. >> Sen. blumenthal? >> no. >> Sen. fetterman? >> no by proxy. >> Sen. kim? >> no. >> Sen. gallego? >> no by proxy. >> Sen. slotkin? >> no. >> Sen. paul?
▶ 2:40:57Chair Paul: Aye. >> Mr. chairman, on the vote of those present, the yeas are 8, the nos are 5. On this vote, the yays are 8, the nays are 7. The motion is agreed to.
▶ 2:41:09Chair Paul: Further amendments?
▶ 2:41:11Sen. Hassan: Mr. chair, I offer my amendment, hassan 47. Right now americans are struggling with high costs, but rather than helping families avoid grocery increase, the president has tried to rename the kennedy center after himself , turning what was a legacy for a fallen president into a vanity project, a monument to himself.
▶ 2:41:41Sen. Hassan: The president should be focused on helping the american people, not flattering his own ego. My amendment would reaffirm. I urge my colleagues to vote yes.
▶ 2:41:54Chair Paul: Moved to table.
▶ 2:41:58Sen. Hassan: Objection.
▶ 2:42:00Chair Paul: Clerk will call the roll. >> Sen. johnson? >> aye. >> Sen. lankford? >> aye. >> Sen. scott? >> aye. >> Sen. hawley? >> aye. >> Sen. moreno? >> aye. >> Sen. ernst? >> aye. >> Sen. moody? >> Sen. peters? >> no. >> Sen. hassan? >> no. >> Sen. blumenthal? >> no. >> Sen. fetterman? >> no by proxy. >> Sen. kim? >> no. >> Sen. gallego? >> no by proxy. >> Sen. slotkin? >> no. >> Sen. paul?
▶ 2:42:19Chair Paul: Aye.
▶ 2:42:20Chair Paul: Aye. Chair>> Mr. chairman, on the vof those present, the yeas are 8, the nos are 5. On this vote, the yays are 8, the nays are 7. The motion is agreed to.
▶ 2:42:34Chair Paul: Further amendments? Senator blumenthal?
▶ 2:42:41Senator Blumenthal: Thank you, Mr. chairman. Blumenthal 58, seeking an investigation into the director of the fbi, kash patel, who had been reportedly regularly absent or unreachable as a result of drinking to excess fol drinking to excess f.
▶ 2:43:11Senator Blumenthal: Following some of these alcohol fueled knights, some of his morning meetings and briefings have had to be rescheduled for later in the day when members of his security detail reportedly had difficulty reaching or waking him. His behavior allegedly caused delays in decision-making and the role of the fbi director is not part-time.
▶ 2:43:38Senator Blumenthal: He has to be on and ready to perform, particularly when we are at war. Particularly when we are under threat of attack. Fortunately no attack has occurred yet while the director was intoxicated or unreachable, but these allegations should concern all of us.
▶ 2:44:08Senator Blumenthal: The inspector general set to investigate the allegations against director patel and the impact on public safety. Anyone who shares my concerns about safety and security of this country should want to see this investigation happen. I have written to the inspector general asking for this investigation and have received no response.
▶ 2:44:34Senator Blumenthal: I am hopeful that the committee will pass this amendment, which will require the investigation.
▶ 2:44:41Chair Paul: Moved to table. Without objection? The clerk will call the roll. >> Sen. johnson? >> aye. >> Sen. lankford? >> aye. >> Sen. scott? >> aye. >> Sen. hawley? >> aye. >> Sen. moreno? >> aye. >> Sen. ernst? >> aye. >> Sen. moody? >> aye. >> Sen. peters? >> no. >> Sen. hassan? >> Sen. blumenthal? >> Sen. fetterman? >> no by proxy. >> Sen. kim? >> no. >> Sen. gallego? >> no by proxy. >> Sen. slotkin? >> no. >> Sen. paul?
▶ 2:45:11Chair Paul: Aye. >> Mr. chairman, on the vote of those present, the yeas are 8, the nos are 5. Yeas 0, nays 2 by proxy. On this vote, the yays are 8, the nays are 7.
▶ 2:45:25Chair Paul: I understand that this is the final amendment, senator peters?
▶ 2:45:30Sen. Peters: Peters amendment 100 48, the cbp officer retirement correctional act to fix retirement for a group of 1400 dedicated cbp officers.
▶ 2:45:47Sen. Peters: 2000 eight, cbp incorrectly told these newly hired border security officers that they would be available for enhanced retirement benefit without having to reach 20 years of service to qualify and in 2021 when cbp realized its mistake a decade ago, the officers abruptly lost access to a retirement package. Losing what they were promised to an agency mistake.
▶ 2:46:16Sen. Peters: The bill has already passed the senate unanimously and we should not let a funding package for cbp advance without this simple but necessary fix for these dedicated border security officers. Time for us to step up to the promise we made to them. Providing a long overdue technical fix and I hope it's something we can do on a bipartisan basis.
▶ 2:46:43Sen. Peters: We have had bipartisan support, now we need to fund it in this is where we can do it and I hope we get support for the amendment.
▶ 2:46:50Chair Paul: Chair paul: I've been advised that this amendment does not comply with the rules and I move to table.
▶ 2:46:54Sen. Hassan: Objection.
▶ 2:46:56Chair Paul: Clerk will call the roll. >> Sen. johnson? >> aye. >> Sen. lankford? >> Sen. scott? >> Sen. hawley? >> Sen. moreno? >> Sen. ernst? >> Sen. moody? >> Sen. peters? >> no. >> Sen. hassan? >> no. >> Sen. blumenthal? >> no. >> Sen. fetterman? >> no by proxy. >> Sen. kim? >> no. >> Sen. gallego? >> no by proxy. >> Sen. slotkin? >> no. >> Sen. paul?
▶ 2:47:20Chair Paul: Aye. >> Mr. chairman, on the vote of those present, the yeas are 8, the nos are 5. Yeas 0, nays 2 by proxy. On this vote, the yays are 8, the nays are 7. The motion is agreed to.
▶ 2:47:34Chair Paul: Before we take the final vote, we recognize the ranking member for brief remarks.
▶ 2:47:40Sen. Peters: Thank you, Mr. chairman. Senate brief remarks. Hard to believe that our colleagues voted to block, republican colleagues voted to block every single one of the amendments that my democratic colleagues and I offered today. I just want to be clear, my democratic colleagues and I believe that all of dhs needs to be funded.
▶ 2:48:08Sen. Peters: But we have a responsibility in the committee to conduct oversight and push for reforms that dhs when they are needed. We offered amendments that would have addressed the abuses and misconduct we would have saw from some dhs personnel. Offered amendments that would have assured a focus on serious national security threats, from rising terrorism and cyber security threats to potential future pandemics.
▶ 2:48:36Sen. Peters: The chairman claims that we should address these issues in an authorization markup. But I have to say that the chairman has not had a legislative authorization markup in over nine months. I know that I can speak for my colleagues on both sides of the aisle that we would like to address these issues in an authorization markup and hope that we can have more markups in the future. We have already waited nine months and it's time to get to work on these important issues.
▶ 2:49:08Chair Paul: As I recall, the ranking member durbin he was chairman, we did no markups. Today we processed 57 amendments in the minority was able to vent their frustration, you know? I joined many in the minority in saying that we should have performed. Some have happened. Tom homan went to minneapolis. I haven't seen any news breaks out there or people in the street.
▶ 2:49:39Chair Paul: Announcing that these had occurred in that dhs was doing better than this. The democrats instead decided that they were not going to find ice, no matter what. There were discussions, discussions of reforms, I don't like doing appropriations this way. It's not a good precedent. Democrats left us no choice, they said they wouldn't find ice no matter what you say because our base is so rabid. The thing is, eight million people came across the border.
▶ 2:50:10Chair Paul: It's a real problem that is overwhelming our health care system, our hospitals. We cannot have an open border. I haven't agreed with everything the president has done, but he did control the borders, best thing that could have happened since the biden administration. The border is being controlled. You have to pay ice. You have to pay the border patrol. I'm glad we got this done today. Thank you to everyone for their patience.
▶ 2:50:38Chair Paul: The question is to transmit the recommendations as modified to the budget committee. The clerk will call the roll. >> Sen. johnson? >> Sen. lankford? >> aye. >> Sen. scott? >> aye. >> Sen. hawley? >> aye. >> Sen. moreno? >> aye. >> Sen. ernst? >> aye. >> Sen. moody? >> aye. >> Sen. peters? >> no. >> Sen. hassan? >> no. >> Sen. blumenthal? >> Sen. fetterman? >> no by proxy. >> Sen. kim? >> no. >> Sen. gallego? >> no by proxy. >> Sen. slotkin? >> Sen. paul?
▶ 2:51:10Chair Paul: Aye. >> Mr. chairman, on the vote of those present, the yeas are 8, the nos are 5. Yeas 0, nays 2 by proxy. On this vote, the yays are 8, the nays are 7. -- 5, the motion is agreed to.
▶ 2:51:26Chair Paul: Business meeting adjourned.