House Pass “Big and Beautiful Invoice” then heads to Trump’s desk
The Republican sweeping bill to cut taxes and cut benefits programs like Medicaid passed the House and now heads to President Donald Trump’s desk.
The Budget Settlement Bill features a Texas-sized Golden Nugget. That’s $13.5 billion that can pay back what the state spent on border security during the Biden administration.
The bill that passed Congress on July 3rd does not mention Texas by name. But Texas Gov. Greg Abbott lobbyed hard for the inclusion of line items, while state Republicans Ted Cruz and John Cornyn fought for a refund.
“Under the state of Texas operations, Texas has allocated more than $11 billion in Texas taxpayer money for border security. Earlier this year, Congress requested that Texas be refunded in full for these expenses.”
The new “Border Border Security Reinforcement Fund” for grants paid to states paid for border barriers or other security measures since January 20, 2021, marks President Joe Biden’s inauguration date for a $10 billion grant.
In particular, during the Biden administration, no other state spent more money than Texas on border security measures.
Under Operation Landstar, the state deployed thousands of Texas State Guard troops at the border, deploying controversial buoy barriers in Rio Grande, and paid buses with more than 100,000 immigrants to Democratic-led cities around the country.
Abbott was one of Biden’s leading critics at the border during a period when the Border Patrol registered encounters of more than 2 million immigrants a year. Many of them are legal asylum seekers.
The “strengthening” provisions simply say “states are applicable.” But what states have happened in Texas and Arizona?
Early in the Biden administration, Republican Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey tried to build makeshift border barriers from old shipping containers.
However, legal challenges forced his administration to remove barriers, and his democratic successor, Gov. Katie Hobbs, had previously asked the Biden administration to refund a total of $513 million in border security funds.
The Budget Settlement Bill includes an additional $3.5 billion under the fund that spells Biden. That money could be paid to states that the federal government helps to crack down on immigrants.
In response to the question by email, Andrew Mahalleris of the Abbott Press Office refused to say how much money Texas would apply for, but told USA Today the governor “continues to work closely with the Trump administration to secure the border.”
