Just before 4 a.m., the Senate approved the Democrats' $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation resolution with instructions to the Judiciary Committee to add an amnesty for millions of illegal aliens to its final budget reconciliation bill. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has instructed committees to complete their pieces of the budget bill by September 15.
As expected, the resolution passed strictly along party-lines, 50-49, with Republican Senator Mike Rounds of South Dakota missing the vote. The House is expected to return to Washington during the week of Aug. 23 to consider the Senate-passed resolution.
Should the House pass the Senate-passed resolution, the reconciliation process will officially begin. Democrats have said that they plan to include an amnesty for millions of illegal aliens, including individuals who have received the DACA executive amnesty, have received Temporary Protected Status, and hold jobs illegally in either farming or "essential" businesses.
Another round of debate in the Senate will occur after the Democrats release their budget reconciliation bill in mid-September. Senate Republicans will again have an opportunity to offer amendments to strip any immigration-related provisions from the bill and raise a point of order objection against the amnesty provision, requiring a ruling from the Senate Parliamentarian. While Republicans did offer a few immigration-related amendments during yesterday's 12-hour vote-a-rama, Republican Leadership decided to hold most of its fire power for the actual budget legislation.
