Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich brought up some concerns on March 31, 2026 about a provision that was included in the most recent Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding legislation, asking why Republicans in the Senate would have allowed a section that he referred to as “totally inappropriate.” The previous Friday, the Senate approved a funding deal that would exclude funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol using unanimous consent.
The House of Representatives narrowly approved a stopgap bill that would fund the entirety of DHS, which includes all agencies involved in the enforcement of immigration law, through the latter part of May 2026. Gingrich sat down for an interview on “Kudlow” on Fox News where he said the provision looks to be problematic.
“What it says is no money in this bill can be spent on ICE. Well, I don’t understand, and again, I don’t want to reach the conclusion, because I don’t understand it. But the way it’s written, it sure seems to me that the Senate Republicans allowed something to be put in there that would be totally inappropriate,” Gingrich went on to tell special guest host David Asman.
According to a report from AOL, Gingrich then said, “Particularly because the reading, at least on the House side, is that the money that does exist from the great Big Beautiful Bill back in last year cannot be used for operational funds.” The former House speaker then stated that he doesn’t understand why Senate Republicans would allow that section to be included in the DHS funding bill.
“I don’t fully understand why the Republicans would have tolerated that section, and it’s very clear, it’s very specific, and I have several friends of mine who are lawyers who are trying to get it through and deal with experts and tell me, you know, but I’ve not gotten a good explanation from the Senate as to why the Republicans would have accepted that,” Gingrich said during the interview.
The Senate failed to pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which would have required all individuals registering to vote or casting a ballot to provide proof of their citizenship along with requiring all non-citizens to be removed from voter rolls. A reporter spoke with Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a Republican, and asked if he believed everything was “working out well.”
“We made some temporary headway, but we got a lot of work to do still,” he replied. Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL) slammed Thune on X, saying, “Looks like Leader John Thune is on his way out of town with his private escort, as the SAVE America Act gets left behind. This is very disappointing. I am willing to stay in Washington as long as it takes to get the job done.”
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Several states, including Florida and Mississippi, have opted to pass their own versions of the SAVE Act in order to protect the integrity of elections in their respective states. The bill passed in Florida and was signed into law by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has already led to several lawsuits from liberal groups who are trying to make the case that such laws will make it difficult for people, especially women who have married and changed their names, to vote.
Featured Image: screenshot taken from embedded video