(Texas Scorecard) – Federal lawmakers included a provision to reimburse Texas’ border security efforts in the U.S. Senate’s version of President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill.”
On Thursday, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) praised the measure, which includes $13.5 billion in total for Texas and other states that spent large sums to protect their borders during the Biden administration.
In two letters earlier this year, Gov. Greg Abbott requested that the federal government reimburse Texas for around $11 billion spent on Operation Lone Star during the Biden administration.
“This is a win for Governor Abbott and the Texas Republican congressional delegation, who I worked with closely to ensure this reimbursement was made a priority and did not leave the people of Texas on the hook for the costs of Biden’s failed border policies,” stated Cornyn.
“I was proud to lead this push in the Senate, and I look forward to voting for the One Big Beautiful Bill with this border security reimbursement for Texas included in the coming weeks,” he added.
For months, U.S. House lawmakers struggled to pass the OBBB, which, among other things, would permanentize the 2017 Trump tax cuts. However, in late May, U.S. representatives were able to pass the measure by one vote, 215–214–1.
The measure, including the border funds, is now getting ready to hit the Senate floor after recently passing out of both the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
U.S. Rep. Michael Cloud of Texas’ 27th congressional district, which encompasses parts of South Texas, told Spectrum News last month that he expects nearly all of the funds to cover Operation Lone Star.
That includes money used by the state to bus thousands of illegal aliens to Democrat-run cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, New York City, and Denver.
“We worked to make sure that was in there. I personally spoke with the speaker about it, along with many others, and so, thankful to see that in the bill,” stated Cloud at the time.
Before being implemented into the OBBB, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz joined Cornyn in initially introducing the border reimbursement as standalone legislation.
“Texas was on the frontlines of the Biden administration’s open border crisis, and Texans were on their own dealing with the consequences,” stated Cruz. “I am proud to stand with Governor Abbott and Senator Cornyn to ensure the Lone Star State is reimbursed, and I urge my colleagues to pass this bill expeditiously.”
U.S. Rep. Chip Roy of Texas’ 21st Congressional District introduced the companion legislation in the House, which was then incorporated into the OBBB.