During consideration of the Secure America Act (S. 2), Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) offered an amendment to redirect $31 billion designated for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to Department of Justice grants for rehiring laid-off law-enforcement officers and hiring and training additional officers for community-oriented policing.

The Senate rejected Cortez Masto's amendment on June 5, 2026 by a vote of 45 to 53 (Roll Call 160). We have assigned pluses to the nays because Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution does not authorize federal involvement in domestic law enforcement. In addition to creating dependence on Washington, D.C., federal grants often come with regulations, oversight, and standardized requirements that effectively subordinate local police departments and county sheriffs to federal priorities, moving the nation closer to a nationalized police system.