As Senate Republicans sprinted to pass the so-called “Big, Beautiful Bill,” with their caucus strained over issues including staggering Medicaid cuts, clean energy, and cryptocurrency regulation, there was little debate over the billions of dollars the bill allocates for the nation’s cops and law enforcement.
The bill, which passed 51-50 on Tuesday, includes major giveaways to policing and security efforts designed to fuel President Donald Trump’s deportation and surveillance regime. The wins range from tax reforms to make police overtime more lucrative to new grants administered by the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice. (Some of the funding is also being set aside for security at Trump’s homes, including at Mar-a-Lago in Florida.)
While the legislative package has driven outcry from defenders of the social safety net and deficit hawks alike — it brings a projected $3.3 trillion bump to the national debt over the next decade — its push to ramp up police funding has met less opposition. Last month, Trump hosted leaders of the Fraternal Order of Police, the nation’s biggest police union, at the White House to mark their endorsement of his signature spending package.
The FOP said it was endorsing Trump’s bill because of a provision that cuts federal taxes on overtime pay, which costs municipalities and their police departments millions of dollars in spending. Overtime usage tends to balloon as a result of increased policing and surveillance initiatives, especially in response to protests.
During his June 5 visit to the White House, national FOP President Patrick Yoes told Trump that police have faced problems recruiting and retaining officers because when they’re forced to work overtime, they can’t keep all of the money they earn (because, like almost all legal income, they’re required to pay taxes on it).
“You’ve always been a steadfast supporter of the Fraternal Order of Police and law enforcement across this country,” Yoes said. “You made a promise that you were going to address overtime — a tax on overtime,” he said. “The one big new bill is certainly making good on that promise.”
The overtime deduction, which would apply to workers who collect overtime besides police, is projected to cost the government about $90 billion in total tax revenues over the next four years.
Similar tax cuts would apply by expanding the federal tax deductions people can claim based on their state and local taxes through a program known as SALT. The expansion makes it easier to deduct income taxes and, for homeowners, property taxes from a person’s federal filing. Praising the bill after the House of Representatives passed its version in early June, Yoes said the change appeals to his members because the current income cap “uniquely and unfairly” penalizes law enforcement officers who have to live in specific jurisdictions.
Because they’re based on income and property taxes, SALT deductions disproportionately benefit wealthier taxpayers. While the Senate had expressed some skepticism of the SALT expansion, its version of the bill ultimately included an even greater boost to the tax deduction than the House version.
In addition to easing the tax burden on police, the bill also includes billions of dollars for police to aid in surveillance and deportation efforts. It provides funding for state and local agencies to support operations by the Department of Homeland Security — which doesn’t stop at immigration enforcement.
The text would also allow DHS to fund state, local, and tribal security “and other costs” for major sporting events like the FIFA World Cup and the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles — setting aside $625 million for the former and $1 billion for the latter. Another subset of DHS grants for border security totals $10 billion. The bill also expands funding and grants — more than $3 billion each — under the Department of Justice for police to aid in Trump’s deportation machine.
Through the State Homeland Security Grant program, the bill authorizes $500 million for state and local efforts to “detect, identify, track, or monitor threats” from unmanned aircraft systems, or drones, and $450 million for Operation Stonegarden, a program under the Federal Emergency Management Agency which supports “enhanced cooperation and coordination” with Customs and Border Protection, Border Patrol, and police agencies “to improve overall border security.”
As the Senate rushed to vote on the bill, those provisions appeared in danger: The Senate parliamentarian ruled that the State Homeland Security Grant program provisions for border security, immigration, and major event security did not comply with the chamber’s rules and may be removed or changed. But according to the last version of the bill publicized just an hour before the vote, the DHS grants remained in the text.
“If these grants remain in the bill and it passes, you will start to see more local law enforcement participating in the kidnapping of innocent people off the street,” said Jessica Brand, founder of the Wren Collective, a group of former public defenders advising on criminal justice reform strategies.
To power the deportation regime, the bill appropriates $3.3 billion to do things like hire immigration judges, prosecute immigrants, and compensate states and localities for incarcerating people for immigration authorities. Part of that $3.3 billion also boosts funding for police through the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, or COPS, which has long faced criticism from advocates for criminal justice reform for adding billions to the country’s budget for mass incarceration. Another $3.5 billion allocated under the DOJ is set aside for the attorney general to administer as she sees fit under the
“Bridging Immigration-related Deficits Experienced Nationwide” fund, a reference to former President Joe Biden.
“This money isn’t intended to make anyone safer. It’s intended to break us.”
It also adds $5 billion to the Bureau of Prisons over the next four years — and another $45 billion for immigrant detention. Another $1.17 billion would go to the Secret Service, including for performance, retention, and signing bonuses.
“We are already watching horror shows with teachers, mothers, neighbors — people we know and love — getting arrested and put in terrible detention centers and deported,” Brand said. “It’s only going to get worse. This money isn’t intended to make anyone safer. It’s intended to break us.”
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