‘Last Train Leaving the Station’: GOP Push for Narrow Border Bill Sparks Backlash Over Missing Pieces

SCOOP: White House Strong-Arms 2 More States on AI

What Lawmakers Say About Virologist Calling Out Fauci, NIH on COVID-19

EXCLUSIVE: Senator Urges Trump to End Program That Gives US Jobs to Foreign Graduates

EXCLUSIVE: Randy Fine Joins House Freedom Caucus

EXCLUSIVE: ICE Announces Arrests of Several Violent Criminals and Sex Offenders

Obama Judge Halts Trump Effort to End Parole for Hundreds of Thousands

House Passes Legislation to Combat Mexican Government’s Seizure of American-Owned Port

How China Dominates the World’s Critical Minerals Production

Reclaiming the Lunar High Ground

The Space Race Is Back: NASA Prepares for Liftoff of Deep Space Exploration Crew

China’s Military Went Silent Around Taiwan for First Time in Years. Why?

Louisiana Senate Primary Tests Power of Trump Endorsement

As House Returns Next Week, Giant Tasks Loom

EXCLUSIVE: Freedom Caucus Takes Strong Stand on Amnesty

As Trump Seeks Iran Deal, Congress Wants Say on Foreign Policy

Spanberger Is ‘Taking Credit’ for Youngkin’s Economic Deals

Trump’s Election Integrity Order Faces Wave of Lawsuits Before Dem-Appointed Judges

Democrats Sue to Stop Trump’s Latest Election Integrity Effort

Trump Mail-In Ballot Order Sets Up Battle With States

Trump Bullish on Iran Deal, but Uncertainty Remains

Where Do Dem Presidential Favorites Stand on Israel?

PoliticsSecurityNews

Trump Claims Gold Star Families Told Him to ‘Finish the Job’ in Iran

Citing ‘Echo Chamber’ on Iran, Trump Counterterrorism Chief Resigns

Conservative and Proud: Is the Right Representing Women?

Girl Boss vs. Trad Wife: Forced to Choose?

Beyond the Oyster Fork: An Etiquette Expert’s Tips for ‘Relationships, Work, and Life’

Is the Iran Operation ‘America First’?

Victor Davis Hanson: Why Trump Grew Frustrated With Pam Bondi

International Commentary

‘We’ll Be Your Canada’: Brutal Reality Check for NATO Free Riders

If Donald Trump Did What Obama Did, Media Would Cheer—So Why the Outrage Now?

Victor Davis Hanson: Trump Could Crush Iran, So Why Doesn’t He?

‘Last Train Leaving the Station’: GOP Push for Narrow Border Bill Sparks Backlash Over Missing Pieces

Rep. Marlin Stutzman. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell / @TheElizMitchell

Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell is the White House Correspondent for "The Daily Signal." Send her an email.

President Donald Trump has said he wants Congress to send a reconciliation package funding Immigration and Customs Enforcement to his desk by June 1, spurring a debate among Republicans about whether to expand the package to include other policy priorities.

The Senate’s process of reconciliation allows for the chamber to pass budget legislation with a simple majority vote, with limits on what can be included. Although Republican leadership has decided on a narrow bill to fund border security efforts, House conservatives fear the reconciliation package is their last chance to secure policy wins ahead of the midterm elections without needing Democrat support.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has said that the second bill must be as “narrow” as possible in order to meet Trump’s deadline.

“They’re gonna have to limit the scope,” said Rachel Bovard, Conservative Partnership Institute vice president, “because, if they open it up, it’ll become a Christmas tree.”

Leadership’s approach is likely to run into trouble with the conservative Freedom Caucus, which has several priorities for the second reconciliation bill: completely fund the Department of Homeland Security, defund Planned Parenthood, pass the SAVE America Act, and reform the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

Speaker Mike Johnson has discussed the possibility of a third reconciliation package after that to accomplish other priorities.

Some conservatives say a third reconciliation bill could succeed if funding of the Iran operation is withheld until then, making its passage essentially mandatory. However, most of the caucus lacks confidence the Senate will succeed in passing a third bill with the other priorities included.

“This is the last train leaving the station,” Bovard said of the second reconciliation bill.

We cannot leave ICE and CBP hanging with nothing but hopes and prayers that reconciliation 2.0 comes together.That’s why we must use reconciliation to fully fund ALL of the Department of Homeland Security!We can tightly control this process with strict instructions to the…— House Freedom Caucus (@freedomcaucus) April 7, 2026

“I really need it all to be together,” Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Ind., told The Daily Signal of an expanded package. “You can’t depend on the Senate on issues like declining Planned Parenthood and other pieces. I think it has to all be together.”

Unless the president asks for something different, Stutzman said Congress should follow the same map as the first successful reconciliation package, the One, Big Beautiful Bill.

The One Big, Beautiful Bill restricted Medicaid reimbursements for Planned Parenthood for one year, but that provision expires on July 4, 2026. A major priority for the pro-life movement is extending that policy so the abortion giant doesn’t get a renewed cash flow on America’s 250th birthday.

“The strategy of a second, big, beautiful bill is the way that I would see it getting across the finish line,” Stutzman said, “because I just don’t trust the Senate to keep the priorities in a third bill that would go over there.”

Bovard said Freedom Caucus members don’t have much incentive to support a narrow reconciliation bill without their desired provisions on voter ID, reforms to FISA, or defunding Planned Parenthood. However, she sees the potential for a deal with limited FISA reform being added into reconciliation 2.0.

“But right now, there’s nothing to come to the field for,” she said.

Stutzman fears the Senate’s failure to expand the reconciliation package could cost Republicans the midterms.

“My biggest fear is that the Senate is going to cost us the election in 2026 if they don’t pass some of this policy that our base is expecting us to pass,” he said. “Our voters are already deflated because they feel like we’re not doing what we said we were going to do all because of a filibuster rule.”

Trump Claims Gold Star Families Told Him to ‘Finish the Job’ in Iran

Ousted FBI Agents Seek to Expand Lawsuit to BLM, LGBTQ Grievances

If Donald Trump Did What Obama Did, Media Would Cheer—So Why the Outrage Now?

Read the first chapter of The Woketopus right now for FREE

Today, even with President Trump’s victory, leftist elites have their tentacles in every aspect of our government.

The Daily Signal’s own Tyler O’Neil exposes this leftist cabal in his new book, The Woketopus: The Dark Money Cabal Manipulating the Federal Government.

In this book, O’Neil reveals how the Left’s NGO apparatus pursues its woke agenda, maneuvering like an octopus by circumventing Congress and entrenching its interests in the federal government.

You can read the first chapter of this new book for FREE in this eBook, The Woketopus: Chapter One using the secure link below.

The Tony Kinnett Cast

The Daily Signal Podcast

We use cookies on our website. By using our website, you consent to cookies. Learn More .

visit website

‘Last Train Leaving the Station’: GOP Push for Narrow Border Bill Sparks Backlash Over Missing Pieces

© The Daily Signal