Senate Republicans pass bill authorizing $70bn for immigration enforcement in vote-a-rama – US politics live

Key points

• Republican senator Lindsey Graham said he was ‘very proud of my Republican colleagues for…
• making sure that Border Patrol and ICE are fully funded’ Senate Republicans early Friday passed a bill that would provide the Department of Homeland Security with nearly $70 billion in new funds for immigration enforcement.
• The vote came after a more than 18-hour “vote-a-rama”, a process by which senators offer amendments to bills passed using the reconciliation procedure.
• The Senate’s Democratic minority leader, Chuck Schumer, had said earlier this week that he would use vote-a-rama to force Republicans into publicly defending the policies of Donald Trump, a move that ultimately forced Senate Republicans to drop their attempt to spend $1bn on security improvements for Trump’s White House ballroom.
• New abuse allegations have emerged against Greg Platner, a Democratic candidate for the Senate.