The House of Representatives passed the $70 billion party-line budget bill Republicans refer to as the Secure America Act. The Department of Homeland Security funding bill will now be sent to President Donald Trump’s desk, where he is expected to sign it immediately Wednesday morning. House Republicans passed the bill Tuesday night, 214-212, with all Democrats voting “no,” including Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., who conferences with Republicans. Immigration funding has been a monthslong debate in Congress. Democrats have continuously refused to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection since February. This was the longest shutdown of any department in U.S. history. Sanctuary cities built a system where criminal illegal aliens walk out of jail instead of into ICE custody.The House just passed my $350M ICE provision. It now heads to President Trump’s desk.Arrest them. Detain them. Deport them. https://t.co/knlSmXH7Kr— Eric Schmitt (@Eric_Schmitt) June 9, 2026 “The Democrats chose open borders, so Republicans are using reconciliation, the most powerful tool available to circumvent obstruction, to finish the job without them,” Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, told the Daily Signal after the vote. This is Reconciliation 2.0 delivered. Next comes 3.0. Three Republicans were absent for the vote: Reps. Nancy Mace and Ralph Norman, both of South Carolina, who both have primary elections tonight, and Rep. Tom Kean Jr., R-N.J., who has been mysteriously absent from votes for months. With three Republican absences and a slim majority, this required every member to fall in line. Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Mich., held up the vote for roughly three minutes but eventually folded after getting a talking-to from House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and other members of leadership. “Through the Secure America Act, Republicans are Schumer-proofing the border to keep American communities safe through the remainder of President Trump’s term. This bill invests $70 billion in the Border Patrol agents and ICE officers taking down cartels, stopping human traffickers, and keeping violent criminal aliens off America’s streets,” Pfluger said. Republicans just gave ICE a blank check to continue brutalizing American communities.Their Budget Bill does NOTHING to make life more affordable for the American people.House Democrats voted NO. https://t.co/FJrGaAs6oQ— House Democrats (@HouseDemocrats) June 9, 2026 The specifics of the bill provide $38 billion for ICE, $26 billion for CBP, and $5 billion for a newly created fund to be controlled by Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin. The $70 billion includes a provision sponsored by Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., to allocate $108.5 million to hire and train nearly 200 forensic analysts and investigators to combat child trafficking and online child exploitation. This is the largest investment from Congress to combat child trafficking in history. “My legislation with Tim Tebow to rescue thousands of children trapped in sex trafficking just passed the House and is headed to the President’s desk. That’s two hundred new law enforcement officers to find and rescue kids trafficked by predators and a new initiative to coordinate local, state, and federal enforcement. This is the biggest surge against online child exploitation ever by the federal government. It’s time to rescue these kids,” Hawley said in a press release after the vote. The Senate just passed the largest EVER provision to fight child exploitation through the Secure America Act. @HawleyMO @TimTebow pic.twitter.com/ELnd6tx3rw— The Daily Signal (@DailySignal) June 6, 2026

Just this year, at least seven states identified noncitizens on their voter registration lists. This comes as Congress continues to debate the SAVE America Act, a bill which would require proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections. Several states obtained the names of noncitizens by cross-referencing the voter registration list with the federal database known as the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, or SAVE. SAVE is maintained by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. 1. New Jersey This week, the Republican National Committee and the New Jersey Republican Party announced that hundreds of noncitizens were discovered on voter rolls after they requested voter lists across 21 New Jersey counties. Though few noncitizens had voted, the GOP found a noncitizen removed from voter rolls in 2015 who voted in elections in 2000, 2001, and 2005. Another noncitizen voted in a primary election in 2005 and in a municipal election in 2000, Fox News reported. Most did not vote, and there was evidence that several noncitizens sought to be removed from voter lists, saying they were unknowingly registered to vote. Last month, the Justice Department announced four separate criminal complaints against noncitizens for allegedly illegally voting in federal elections in New Jersey. The four allegedly falsely certified that they were U.S. citizens on their voter registration forms. The agency’s criminal complaint alleged that the defendants cast at least one vote in federal elections from 2020 to 2024 before applying to become U.S. citizens. 2. North Carolina Last week, a Canadian citizen was sentenced to two months in prison for making false claims about U.S. citizenship to vote in the 2022 and 2024 elections in North Carolina. The case, brought in the Eastern District of North Carolina, involved the 70-year-old Denis Bouchard, who has lived in the United States since the 1960s but never became a citizen. Bouchard initially made the false claim of citizenship on a voter registration form in 2004 and has voted in nine federal elections, according to the Justice Department. However, he was only charged for voting in 2022 and 2024. 3. Michigan Macomb County, Michigan, County Clerk Anthony Forlini, a Republican, in January identified 15 apparent noncitizens on voter rolls. The Department of Homeland Security is reportedly conducting an active investigation into the suburban Detroit county and issued a subpoena requesting “all available information” on noncitizen voters, including “types of voting conducted” and “any signed documents.” The records were sent to the office of the state’s secretary of state, Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, who criticized Forlini. Her office noted the state elections bureau determined that three of the 15 had voting histories. But of those three, one was an American citizen. The Michigan Bureau of Elections concluded that of the 15 individuals, four were apparent noncitizens who will receive letters asking them to confirm their eligibility to vote. If they do not respond, the bureau will cancel their registration. Another four were previously removed from the voter rolls. Still, four remained under review by the elections bureau, according to Benson’s office. The bureau found that three of the 15 were citizens. 4. Nevada In January, the FBI concluded that 38 noncitizens may have voted in Nevada during the 2020 election but then closed the inquiry, CBS News reported. An FBI review of the Nevada voter rolls was compared with Department of Homeland Security citizenship data and found 38 likely noncitizens. In July 2025, First Assistant U.S. Attorney in Nevada Sigal Chattah ordered a probe of the state’s 2020 presidential election. The FBI reportedly informed Chattah that it would be difficult to bring a case because of the statute of limitations. 5. Utah In Utah, 27 noncitizens were on the voter rolls, and about half—13—had cast ballots, according to an audit released in late May by Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson’s office. The review began in April 2025. In addition to the 27 confirmed noncitizens, the report identified another 25 likely noncitizens. The state gave the 25 individuals a month to provide proof of citizenship or be removed from the voter rolls. 6. Montana In March, the Montana secretary of state’s office announced that, using federal data, it had identified 23 voter records associated with noncitizens. Montana Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen said that of those noncitizens, a total of about 150 ballots were cast, while several participated in signature gathering for ballot initiatives. In announcing the findings, Jacobsen’s office noted that Montana local elections are often closely decided, including a city council race that resulted in a tie vote. 7. Kansas Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach’s office has prosecuted three noncitizens who cast ballots, including one incumbent mayor who was also not legally allowed to run for office. Last month, Jose Ceballos-Armendariz, the former mayor of Coldwater, Kansas, turned himself in to Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the Wichita area, Fox 4 Kansas City reported. Ceballos-Armendariz is a Mexican national with a green card and resides legally in the United States. He was prosecuted by Kobach’s office and pleaded guilty last month to illegally voting in several elections.

A Republican appears set to make the November ballot for the first time in years, but California’s Democrat supermajority isn’t going anywhere. Experts predict a Democrat will ultimately win the governor’s race and keep the state under one-party control. “It’s a Democratic state. … I think Steve Hilton will put up a noble effort and will probably help some down-ballot Republicans, but unless [Xavier] Becerra has a massive scandal or something really unusual happens, [he will] beat Hilton,” Christian Grose, a political science professor at the University of Southern California, told the Daily Signal. With 84% of ballots counted as of Tuesday evening, Becerra leads with an estimated 27.7% of the vote, while Hilton trails close behind at 25.1%. Decision Desk HQ on Monday night predicted the current leaders will advance to the top-two primary. The Associated Press has yet to call the second-place challenger. California’s gubernatorial primary election produced few surprises. Last Thursday, Hilton led the race. But over the weekend, Becerra, the expected front-runner, regained the lead and secured his spot in the general election. Billionaire Tom Steyer remains in third place, with 22.4% of the vote. Klink Campaigns President Matt Klink told the Daily Signal before Election Day that if Becerra and Hilton faced off, the Democrat would win. However, he warned that Becerra’s campaign could face issues. “If it’s Becerra versus Hilton, the Becerra campaign would probably be a shell of a campaign and people would go to work for the California Democratic Party to try to pull up other Democrats throughout the state. There’s no way Steve Hilton can win,” he said. Other elections experts agree that, while a Hilton candidacy is exciting for California Republicans, any early celebrations could prove premature. “At some point you’ve got to put on your big boy pants and realize this is a very deep blue state; Republicans aren’t competitive statewide in California,” political strategist Jon Fleischman told the Daily Signal. “The only way that Steve Hilton becomes the governor of California is if there’s an implosion of Swalwell proportions that takes out the Democratic nominee.” In April, former U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell, considered to be the Democrat front-runner in the race for governor, abruptly dropped out amid multiple sexual assault allegations. Unless a similar meltdown occurs within the Becerra camp, experts say, Hilton’s chances at victory remain slim. Fleischman further predicted that Hilton’s ties to Trump would become a major talking point for Democrats and make the GOP’s race “very tough.” “Hilton’s got to do everything right,” he said. “Imagine you’re running a track race, and he’s the turtle and Becerra is the hare. The rabbit has got to trip so that the turtle who keeps plodding along can just kind of go past him and win the race. But if the rabbit never trips, the rabbit wins the race,” Fleischman added.  Early on in the campaign, Republican voters were split between Hilton and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco. Despite President Donald Trump’s support for Hilton, the Republican Party failed to endorse a candidate during its April convention. Before Election Day, Hilton urgently called for Bianco to drop out, warning that the split could lead to a double-Democrat ticket. But Bianco stayed in the race, garnering 10.2% of the vote as of Tuesday. Democrats also struggled to rally behind a single candidate. More than 10 party members ran for California’s top office, and Swalwell’s departure caused temporary confusion among the party faithful. And while Becerra emerged as the top Democratic contender, Steyer poured hundreds of millions into his own campaign and kept the race close. California has lived under a Democratic supermajority in the state Legislature for more than a decade, giving one party veto-proof control over the budget and most major policy. The state’s registered voters stand at roughly 45% Democrat, 25% Republican, 23% no party preference, and 7% minor parties or other designations, according to a May 18 report from the California Secretary of State’s office. Notably, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s approval ratings have hovered near or below 50% in recent polling, with many voters expressing frustration over the state’s direction on key issues. For this election cycle, Californians consistently rank the economy, cost of living, and housing affordability as their top concerns. While Fleischman says Hilton is unlikely to win in November, having a Republican at the top of the ticket still matters for down-ballot races. “A vibrant Hilton at the top of the ticket matters for passing voter ID. It matters for passing the Prop 13 ballot measure. It matters … for winning [outgoing state Rep. Darrell] Issa’s seat, and the [Rep. David] Valadao seat,” he said. “[If] you don’t have a Republican on the top of the ticket, you’re going to see a fall-off in Republican turnout.”

After months in which the SAVE America Act—a bill to require photo identification and proof of citizenship in federal elections—has been a major topic of discussion among Republican senators, some in the upper chamber are willing to call it quits and “move on.” “It’s a well-known fact around here, sometimes perhaps not fully grasped around the country … that we don’t have the votes,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said. Last week, the bill came close to its first real up-or-down vote on the Senate floor when Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., introduced an amendment to a border funding legislation that would have waived rules governing the budgetary process and allowed the bill to be added. Thune on if he's worried that Trump will criticize him if he doesn't do what he wants: "That could happen" pic.twitter.com/TscX3ySJPE— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 9, 2026 Ultimately, four Republican senators joined all Democrats in voting against waiving those rules, and the amendment failed 48-50, short of the 60 votes needed to pass. Republican Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, and Susan Collins of Maine voted against it. A separate, more narrowly tailored amendment introduced by Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, to require voter ID and ensure only citizens are on voter rolls also failed, 50-49. Collins supported it. “The SAVE America didn’t even get 50 votes last week on the floor of the Senate, but even if you confine it to just the two issues of photo ID and proof of citizenship in order to register to vote, on those two issues it would take 60 votes in the Senate,” Thune said. Thune added that the votes necessary to override the 60-vote legislative filibuster “aren’t even close.” As Thune sees it, if voters want the bill passed, they should help Republicans grow their majority. “It’s not something that we’re going to be able to get done absent having an election and electing some more Republicans,” he said. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, similarly told the Daily Signal he doesn’t see a path to codifying nationwide voter ID requirements. “It’s clear there’s not enough votes to pass it, and we’re not going to eliminate the filibuster,” he said.  Cornyn recently lost in the Texas Senate primary runoff to state Attorney General Ken Paxton, who has expressed willingness to override the filibuster to pass the bill. “I don’t know what else there is to do,” Cornyn continued. “I support voter ID, and I support only American citizens voting, but Democrats are implacably opposed to it, and we don’t have enough Republicans to fill the gap. So, we should move on and focus on winning the midterms instead of fighting each other.” Punchbowl News reported on Monday that Tillis recently penned an email to colleagues in which he called for an end to the failed SAVE America votes. “The real problem I have is that the president (and a few of our members?) forced us to take two more unsuccessful votes for the SAVE Act at the expense of our most vulnerable members in cycle,” Tillis reportedly wrote in the email. This is not to say all Republican senators are ready to lay down their arms in the SAVE America Act battle.  “I’m not going to give up on it. I know Mike Lee won’t,” Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., told the Daily Signal on Monday. “Over 80% of Americans want voter ID.” Related Posts‘Most Stringent’ Voter ID Effort to Make Moves in OhioThe Ohio Senate is expected to take up a vote in the coming days on a resolution that could produce one of the strongest voter ID laws in the country. “If this is passed by the voters, this will be the most stringent voter ID law in the country,” state Sen. Jane Timken, the sponsor…Abolishing Filibuster Becomes Pivotal Point in Georgia Senate RaceThe controversial 60-vote threshold needed in the Senate in order to pass legislation, which could be removed by Senate majority leadership, has become a vital point in the Georgia Senate race. Derek Dooley, who is competing against Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., for the Republican nomination to face Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., in November for his…Senate Passes Border Funding MegabillThe Senate passed a major immigration enforcement funding bill early Friday morning, marking a major step forward for the effort to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), as well as Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for the rest of President Donald Trump’s term. The chamber voted 52-47 to pass the $70 billion party-line budget bill,…

Minnesota’s welfare schemes exposed the scale of taxpayer fraud, California’s hospice scandal showed the problem was not isolated, and now Ohio’s Medicaid problem reveals how deep fraud may run. During my appearance Monday on Fox News with Jon Scott, I argued that the fraud uncovered so far in several states is only the tip of the iceberg. In an exclusive interview with the Daily Signal, Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., said that fraud could account for as much as 22% of benefits spending, with nationwide losses estimated at $187 billion annually. For decades, state governments were reactive to this problem instead of proactive, treating fraud as a problem to address after they doled out taxpayer dollars. Prosecutors were forced to chase the money after it was siphoned off and transferred to foreign countries, or gone to pay for luxury homes, cars, and vacations. Only a proactive approach will counter fraud successfully. The way to deter fraud is to detect it before any check goes out the door.Ohio is now ground zero for another massive scandal as we search for billions of alleged taxpayer fraud, but it is also a gold standard for a better approach to the problem thanks to the leadership of President Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and the newly created Fraud Prevention and Detection Center at the Justice Department, led by Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald. The center is laser-focused on detecting fraud before it expands by using data analytics and shared information to identify billing spikes, shell companies, shared addresses, and other signs of fraud. Ohio officials have signed a memorandum of understanding with the Justice Department, providing full access to corporate registration records for investigators. That is a critical step, as fraud schemes do not always operate through a single company but involve multiple entities with suspicious billing patterns and layers of paperwork designed to make the money harder to trace. I visited hundreds of home health care businesses in Ohio and saw suspicious circumstances including empty buildings and individuals who did not speak English. I had serious questions about the recipients of public funding. Taxpayers deserve to know where their money is going before it is doled out. The Trump administration is leading the charge to detect fraud earlier, share information, and follow the money, which requires political will to use the systems we have in place to protect taxpayers. No state, including red states, should receive a pass simply because officials would rather point to scandals elsewhere.Ohio’s decision to share its corporate data with federal investigators is a landmark moment for protecting taxpayers. Every state should follow Ohio’s lead by entering a partnership with the National Fraud Task Enforcement Center.Americans’ hard earned tax dollars should not fund fraudsters’ luxury lifestyles. It is time to Audit America.