Budget bill includes $10B payday for states that spent on border security [View all]
Source: USA Today
July 5, 2025, 5:04 a.m. ET
Tucked into the budget reconciliation bill is a Texas-sized golden nugget: $13.5 billion that could pay back what the state spent on border security during the Biden administration.
The bill – which passed Congress on July 3 – doesn't mention Texas by name. But Texas Gov. Greg Abbott lobbied hard for the line item's inclusion, and the state's Republican Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn fought for the reimbursement.
"Under Operation Lone Star, Texas allocated more than $11 billion of Texas taxpayer money for border security, and earlier this year I requested Congress reimburse Texas for these costs in full," Abbott said in a May statement, after an initial version of the bill passed in the House of Representatives.
The new "State Border Border Security Reinforcement Fund" earmarks $10 billion for grants to states that paid for border barriers or other security measures beginning Jan. 20, 2021 – President Joe Biden's inauguration day. Notably, during the Biden administration, no other state spent more than Texas on border security measures.
Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/07/05/trump-budget-bill-states-border-security/84463777007/
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