GOP advances another ICE 'blank check' as millions lose food stamps

House Republicans on Wednesday passed a budget resolution that sets the stage for GOP lawmakers to draft and approve more funding for immigration enforcement without any support from Democrats, who condemned the proposal as another “blank check” for rogue agencies.

The resolution, which cleared the GOP-controlled Senate last week, gives Republicans the ability to allocate up to $140 billion total to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), agencies that President Donald Trump has unleashed on American cities with deadly consequences. Republicans have said they plan to allocate roughly $70 billion total to the immigration agencies, which Democrats have refused to fund through the normal appropriations process without reforms.

The new GOP legislation will proceed through the budget reconciliation process, which is exempt from the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster, enabling Republicans to fund ICE and CBP without Democratic backing.

Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.), the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee, said in a statement that the GOP’s proposal “does nothing to protect healthcare, help families struggling with groceries, gas prices, and everyday expenses, or make our communities safer.”

“House and Senate Republicans just paved the way to hand ICE and CBP another $70 billion without any reforms or accountability,” said Boyle. “Republicans keep telling working families we cannot afford healthcare or relief from the cost-of-living crisis they continue to make worse, but they never seem to have a problem writing massive checks for these out-of-control agencies. I will keep fighting every step of the way to stop this reckless bill.”

The forthcoming reconciliation package marks the second time Republicans have used the filibuster-proof budget process to ram through their agenda. Last summer, Republicans passed a sprawling budget reconciliation measure that included unprecedented cuts to Medicaid and nutrition assistance as well as tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans.

The previous legislation also contained $75 billion for ICE—making the agency’s budget larger than that of the militaries of Canada, Australia, Spain, and other nations.

“Last year, Republicans gave ICE a $75 billion slush fund, transforming the agency into Donald Trump’s personal army in essence,” Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.) said Wednesday. “We have seen agents execute US citizens in the streets, snatch mothers from their children in our communities, and use excessive force against peaceful protesters. Now, they want to pass another $70 billion for this cruel and lawless agenda—holding up pay for our hard-working TSA officers and Coast Guard until ICE gets another blank check. I have opposed ICE since its inception.”

“They don’t need more funding—they need to be disbanded,” Larson added. “Congress should focus on paying our civil servants and troops and taking on the high prices squeezing families thanks to the failed Trump agenda, not billions for ICE.”

Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) echoed that message in floor remarks criticizing the Republican plan:

House Republicans passed their budget blueprint as new data showed that their first reconciliation package has spurred the steepest decline in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participation in decades.

An analysis released Wednesday by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) shows that SNAP participation fell by more than 3 million people across the US between July 2025 and January 2026. The think tank noted that “it took over three years for the caseload to drop by over 3 million people (or 7%) between its peak in December 2012 and February 2016, during the recovery following the Great Recession.”

The new Republican budget reconciliation package would do nothing to ameliorate the damage inflicted by the previous bill. The GOP is also already considering what House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has described as “reconciliation 3.0,” a new package that could include additional cuts to safety net programs.

Meanwhile, in the regular appropriations process, House Republicans voted to advance government funding legislation that would take food aid from millions by cutting the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).

“Parents are already making impossible choices at the grocery store—skipping meals, stretching food, and worrying about how to feed their kids,” said Ailen Arreaza, executive director of the advocacy group ParentsTogether. “Cutting WIC’s fruit and vegetable benefit means taking fresh, healthy food off the plates of new mothers, babies, and young children at a time when families need more support, not less.”

“You can’t say you want to make America healthy again while reducing access to the very foods that help children grow and thrive,” Arreaza added.