Immigration and Customs Enforcement could “run out of money by next month,” according to a report from Axios.
The outlet reports the agency is “already $1 billion over budget” as it carries out multiple raids across the country. Axios' lawmaker sources said the Department of Homeland Security, which is in charge of ICE, could be violating “U.S. law if it continues to spend at its current pace.”
“Trump's DHS is spending like drunken sailors," Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) told the outlet.
He later added, “They are spending likely in the neighborhood of a billion dollars more at ICE than we authorized, and that's patently illegal.”
Axios sources claim the overspending is a violation of the Antideficiency Act. The Government Accountability Office says the act “prohibits federal agencies from obligating or expending federal funds in advance or in excess of an appropriation, and from accepting voluntary services.”
Any agency head who violates the act could face criminal charges.
Democrats are not the only ones concerned about DHS and ICE over spending, "We're watching what goes on [with budget talks in the Senate],” Congressman Mark Amodei (R-NV) told Axios, "because if there's much of a hiccup in that, those concerns are all capital 'C' concerns."
"I have a feeling they're going to grant themselves an exception apportionment, use the life and safety exception, and just keep burning money," a former federal budget official told Axios.
The outlet has previously reported, “DHS recently shifted around almost $500 million” to help pay for ICE operations. Despite this, they are still in need of a significant amount of money. Axios reported in March, DHS has asked for “at least $2 billion more to meet the agency's needs by the end of September.”
In a statement, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Axios, "President Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill' is critical to ensure we have the funding to secure our homeland for generations and deliver on the American people's mandate for safety and security.”