First on FOX: House Republicans carve out $68.8 billion for the president Donald Trump’s Hiring more agents on the field amid discussions on the border wall and the massive bill to advance the commander’s agenda.
While Trump spent most of his first term focusing on physical barriers between the US and Mexico, the legislation currently under consideration is attempting to modernize the task for $46.5 billion against an integrated “boundary barrier system,” according to details first seen by Fox News Digital. It incorporates physical fencing along with modern monitoring tools, roads and lighting.
The bill also aims to pay $5 billion for new facilities and personnel to the Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has sought since Trump returned to the White House.
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green will lead his panel through some of Trump’s budget agenda next week (Getty Images)
It will fund new frontline personnel to patrol the borders, particularly to devote $4.1 billion, while also encouraging new CBP staff with retention bonuses, even among the $2 billion dedicated measures.
It also invested $813 million in modernizing CBP’s existing vehicles, and current technology is preyed upon mechanical issues and high maintenance costs.
The bill also calls for $2.7 billion to fund an array of latest technologies that agents can use to crack down on illegal immigration at their borders, including ground sensors, drones, radar and remote surveillance technologies.
Funding a $673 million upgrade with an upgrade to the current US biometric system aimed at tracking down these illegal immigrants for those who are crossing illegally.
It also includes funds that are slightly more than funded for new and updated Air and Maritime platforms.
The law also invests millions in the threat and logistical planning of multiple international events in the United States, with $1 billion at the 2028 Summer Olympics and $625 million at the upcoming World Cup Football Championship.
Other funding items include $1 million to commemorate American casualties of American illegal immigration crimes and $500 million to specifically crack down on cartel drug smuggling at the border.
The Department of Homeland Security, led by Executive Director Kristi Noem, is asking Congress to raise border funds (Ken Cedeno/Upi/Bloomberg Getty Images)
Border security is a central pillar of Congressional Republican priorities in the budget settlement process. The Homeland Security Committee, which has jurisdiction over a substantial amount of US-Mexico border operations, has been directed to use up to $90 billion in new spending to achieve these targets.
Trump administration officials, including Homeland Security Secretary Christie Noem and immigrant emperor Tom Homan, have stressed that more funds are needed to implement the president’s agenda.
The DHS sent a memo to Republicans in Congress and Senate earlier this month, warning that it did not pass the law and that it would “resciss all the great successes of the Trump administration.”
Senator Van Hollen meets and shakes hands with Abrego Garcia
US Customs and Border Patrol Agents from the Houlton sector will arrest illegal borders in March 2025. (US Customs and Border Protection – Halton Sector)
Budget adjustments lower the Senate’s passage threshold from 60 to 51 votes for certain items related to federal spending, taxes and government bonds. So parties that control the House, Senate and White House can pass swept reforms while completely watching the other party, in this case Democrats.
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Republicans are aiming to use the settlement to pass through a wide strip of Trump’s agenda.
In addition to border security, including new commitments to fossil fuel energy, National Defenseand Trump’s Tax Policy – both extending the 2017 Tax Cuts and Employment Act (TCJA) and fulfilling its new promise to eliminate tips, overtime salaries and taxes on social security for retirees.
