President Donald Trump’s nearly $70 billion immigration enforcement package has entered uncertain waters as the Senate embarks on a marathon of votes that could blow up the legislation. 

At the heart of the issue is the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) now-defunct nearly $2 billion «anti-weaponization» fund. It’s another rare instance where both sides of the aisle are frustrated with the administration, and it could spell doom for the broader bill. 

That’s because Democrats and Republicans are lining up amendments to ensure the fund is dead, to varying degrees. 

GOP ADVANCES ICE FUNDING PACKAGE AFTER FORCING TRUMP’S CONTROVERSIAL $2B FUND INTO RETREAT

Senate Republican leadership is hopeful that they can prevent those amendments from surviving during the newly launched «vote-a-rama,» but success isn’t guaranteed. One positive for the GOP is that every Republican voted for the package in its first procedural hurdle Wednesday afternoon.

«I feel good going into it,» Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said. «But, you know, you got a lot of conversations with our members [who] understand what’s at stake, how critical it is that we defeat amendments that would be corrosive to the bill or undermine in any way its privilege.»

One issue is that should an amendment targeting the fund pass, it could remove the reconciliation package’s ability to advance with just a simple majority of votes. That would effectively give Democrats a win in killing the package outright. 

Whether the amendments will be considered under a simple majority or 60-vote threshold could change the landscape and will ultimately be up to the Senate rules referee to determine whether they comply with the Byrd rule, which undergirds the reconciliation process.

GOP DEMANDS TRUMP KILL CONTROVERSIAL $2B FUND BEFORE REVIVING ICE FUNDING PACKAGE

Republicans believed that those add-ons would hit that 60-vote mark, giving them a little bit of breathing room. 

«I mean, you never know with 100% accuracy,» Thune said. «There are a lot of creative ways of drafting amendments, but we feel pretty confident that most of those would be at 60.» 

The fund, announced last month as part of a settlement between the Trump family and the Internal Revenue Service, received strong pushback from Republicans who feared that without proper guardrails, people convicted of assaulting police officers during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot on Capitol Hill could access the taxpayer funds.

Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., whose main job is to wrangle and twist the arms of wary Republicans to vote for the package, put the primary blame on Senate Democrats as fractures in the GOP simmered.  

GOP LEVERAGES ICE FUNDING PACKAGE TO MAKE TRUMP’S CONTROVERSIAL $2B FUND ‘NEVER EXIST’ 

«The Democrats continue to talk about everything they want to talk about, except actually securing the border and protecting the American people,» Barrasso said. «They’re gonna come with all sorts of things, all in an effort to delay our efforts to support the American people and keep them safe and secure.»

But there are Republicans who will have their own anti-weaponization fund amendments. So far, Sens. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and Bill Cassidy, R-La., two lawmakers who are increasingly prone to break with Trump, have teed up add-ons to address the fund.

There is the option to deal with the fund outside of reconciliation, too. 

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Cassidy, who Trump successfully just ousted from office, didn’t say which route he would prefer, but wanted «something which just makes it sure that somebody doesn’t change their mind in the White House, it doesn’t come back.»

Tillis contended that there were enough Republicans with concerns over the fund that something needed to be done, but wanted it to be a GOP-led initiative. He’s not picky about whether his amendment gets a shot either. 

«I don’t care about my own personal amendment,» Tillis said. «There’s a few out there, as long as one touching on the issue gets there. I’m not gonna slow leadership down. I
wouldn’t do anything to make it as corrosive to the underlying bill so that it loses privilege. But we gotta do this.» 

Ataques con drones

«Un duro revés»

A Sherpa guide whose family had already begun funeral rituals after he vanished on Mount Everest was found alive and crawling toward base camp nearly a week later, surviving alone on the world’s highest peak without food, water or supplemental oxygen in what rescuers called «nothing short of a miracle.»

Dawa Sherpa, 52, disappeared around May 29 while descending Everest after turning back short of the summit with a Polish climber he was guiding. The client made it safely to base camp, but Dawa had not, triggering fears that he had died on the mountain.

A cleanup crew from the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee found him Thursday morning crawling through the treacherous Khumbu Icefall, one of the most dangerous sections of Everest, just above base camp, Pemba Sherpa of 8K Expeditions told The Associated Press.

Rescuers carried him to safety, gave him food and water, and flew him by helicopter to a hospital in Kathmandu, where his wife and daughter were waiting.

LONE SURVIVOR RESCUED AFTER FATAL FALL KILLS THREE CLIMBERS ON MOUNT MCKINLEY

By that point, his family had already lost hope.

His teenage daughter, Mendo Lhamu Sherpa, told the outlet that relatives were in the middle of funeral rites when news of the rescue broke.

«When we first heard about it (the rescue), we could not be sure if that person was indeed our father,» she said. «So to be certain we asked for photos to be sent and then only we were sure and very happy.»

Medics take Dawa Sherpa, a mountain guide who had been missing for several days in the Everest region, for treatment after he arrived at HAMS Hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal, on June 4, 2026. (Niranjan Shrestha/AP)

His wife, Damu Sherpa, added that the family learned he was alive through local news reports and phone calls from friends.

«We first heard that he was still alive on the local news and from a person we know who called with the news that … he is being brought down,» she said.

RESCUERS FREE CLIMBER TRAPPED BENEATH 16,000-POUND BOULDER ON OREGON’S MOUNT HOOD IN COMPLEX OPERATION

Dawa was still wearing his climbing jacket when rescuers found him. His family said he is being treated for frostbite and other complications but is conscious and able to speak.

«He recognized me … is good and speaks,» his daughter told Reuters. «We are happy.»

The Nepal Mount Everest hiking company called his survival extraordinary.

«Dawa survived alone for nearly a week without food, water, or supplemental oxygen navigating the treacherous Khumbu Icefall (even after the fixed ladders were removed for the season),» the company said in a social media post. «This is nothing short of a miracle.»

Tents are set up at Everest Base Camp in the Solukhumbu district, also known as the Everest region, Nepal, on April 13, 2026. (Purnima Shrestha/Reuters)

It was unclear how Dawa became separated from his client during the descent or why there was a delay in launching a search team when he went missing last week. Helicopters were eventually dispatched but failed to locate him.

His rescue came at the end of a record-breaking Everest climbing season. More than 1,000 climbers and guides reached the summit this year after Nepal issued a record 494 permits.

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Officials have said five climbers and guides died on Everest during the season, according to Reuters.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.