Trump asks lawmakers to fast-track $175B for migrant crackdown

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - The Trump administration has asked Congress to quickly provide it with an additional $175 billion in new funding for its migrant crackdown and border security, according to a recently published report.

The request from Trump border czar Tom Homan and Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought was made during a closed-door lunch Tuesday, Axios reported. The officials warned Republican senators that they are running out of money for the crackdown, urging the lawmakers to fast-track the funding amid an ongoing dispute between the Republican leaders of each chamber.

"After hearing these two gentlemen today, we're living on borrowed time," Senate Budget Chair Lindsey Graham said.

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson has insisted that lawmakers vote on a single package including tax cuts and new funding for immigration, energy, and defense. The Senate majority leader has said the funding should be voted on first with the tax cuts to be decided further down the line.

Sen. Josh Hawley, a vocal Republican, said the officials did not back either strategy.

"I do think that at some point, somebody's going to have to get the House and the Senate on the same page," Axios quoted Hawley as saying. "I assume that somebody will need to be the White House."

Homan and Vought said the federal government needs the funding to find migrant children who agencies lost contact with after they were released to caretakers.

"After Tom talked about trying to find these children, half of us started to cry," Graham said.

The funding is enough to cover Trump's migrant policies for the next four years, White House officials told the lawmakers. The Senate is expected on Wednesday to start marking up Graham's bill, which includes $175 billion for the crackdown and $150 billion for defense.