WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Los Angeles rioting over ICE raids has deepened political divisions on Capitol Hill, where the Senate on Monday resumed work on the massive budget bill known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
The inflamed partisan tensions, however, figure to have no bearing on the tax and spending megabill. Republicans have intended all along to pass the contentious package on party-line votes.
The bill has dominated senators' time as of late, but the riots opened a new partisan battlefront.
“Republicans are putting America first. Democrats are standing with rioters who burn the American flag. Are you paying attention?” U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyoming, posted on X on Monday about the protests, which were triggered by Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids.
The day before, U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, D-California, accused President Donald Trump of provoking more violence by calling up the California National Guard over the objections of Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Padilla said local law enforcement was adequate to handle the throngs of protestors, and Newsom pledged to sue the Trump administration.
Stop ‘Prioritizing Criminals’
The violence has gone on for days. Los Angeles television station KTLA reported that five Los Angeles Police Department officers were hurt Monday. Arrests have numbered in the dozens amid torched cars and looted stores.
“The riots in California targeting @ICEgov are a direct attack on law and order,” U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyoming, posted to X on Monday. “We must put the safety of American citizens first and stop the left from prioritizing criminals.”
U.S. Senate Republican Whip John Barrasso of Wyoming posted: “Democrats did nothing to stop violent rioters from assaulting law enforcement officers who put their lives on the line to keep us safe. Democrats are the party of chaos. Republicans will make our cities sanctuaries of safety, not dens of crime and chaos.”
Budget Bill Week Two In Senate
On the Senate floor Monday, the rioting drew scant mention as jockeying on the One Big Beautiful Act entered its second week.
Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, has said he wants to get the measure to Trump’s desk by the Fourth of July.
The GOP-controlled House passed the bill in May by the narrowest of margins, 215-214, with Hageman in support. All of the House Democrats voted against it, along with two Republicans. Two Republicans did not vote, and another formally abstained by voting "present."
Thune and Barrasso, the chamber’s second-ranking Republican, need only 51 votes to get it through the Senate because the measure is not subject to the 60-vote, filibuster-proof threshold. Democrats have uniformly condemned the bill but cannot block it.
With the GOP holding a 53-47 edge in the Senate, Thune and Barrasso can afford only a few defections. Some Republicans are not happy about the $4 trillion hike in the nation’s debt ceiling that the House bill includes, and others are uneasy about Medicare cuts and other issues.
Delicate Balance In House
For Thune and Barrasso, who routinely tout the tax relief in the bill, there is more to the challenge than rounding up Senate votes.
The text that the Senate winds up voting on is not expected to be the exact same as what the House passed, and ultimately, those differences must be ironed out for Trump to get the bill.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, has warned senators of making changes that would disrupt the delicate balance he managed to achieve in order to get it through that chamber.
Sean Barry can be reached at sean@cowboystatedaily.com.
