As drivers on U.S. highways cross from one state to another, they often are greeted by a large “Welcome to ….” sign.

But not all drivers are welcome in every state.

In Florida, motorists with special out-of-state driver’s licenses issued to those in the U.S. illegally are not welcome to drive. Wyoming’s governor enacted a comparable ban this year. And Tennessee’s governor said he will sign similar legislation sent to his desk recently.

The message, though not literally printed on metal, is clear: “The sign says, `Welcome to Tennessee, illegal immigrants are not welcome,’” Tennessee House Majority Leader William Lamberth declared during debate.

As President Donald Trump cracks down on illegal immigration, Republican lawmakers in many states are pushing new laws targeting people lacking legal status to live in the U.S. The measures contrast with policies in 19 other states and Washington, D.C., which issue driver’s licenses regardless of whether residents can prove their legal presence.

The Justice Department is seeking to strike down one such law in New York, which shields its driver’s license data from federal immigration authorities.

States are taking drastically different approaches to licensing drivers even as the federal government attempts to standardize the process.

On May 7, the U.S. will start enforcing a law passed 20 years ago that sets national standards for state driver’s licenses to be accepted as proof of identity for adults entering certain federal facilities or traveling on domestic commercial flights. Licenses compliant with the REAL ID Act are marked with a star and require applicants to provide a Social Security number and proof of U.S. citizenship or legal residency.

But states remain free to issue driver’s licenses to residents who don’t provide documentation for a REAL ID, so long as they meet other state requirements such as passing a vision exam or a driving laws test. In most states that issue licenses to people illegally in the U.S., there is no way currently to know from looking at the license whether the person is unlawfully present or simply chose not to apply for a REAL ID.

But at least some states do make a distinction. Connecticut and Delaware place special markings on driver’s licenses issued to immigrants in the U.S. illegally.

In 2023, Florida became the first state to invalidate some other states’ licenses. A law signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis made it a misdemeanor punishable by a fine and potential jail time to drive in Florida with a type of license “issued exclusively to undocumented immigrants” or with markings indicating the driver didn’t provide proof of lawful presence.

As applied, the law has a limited scope. Only specially marked licenses from Connecticut and Delaware are deemed invalid, according to the website of the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.

Connecticut has issued nearly 60,700 “drive-only” licenses to immigrants unable to prove lawful presence. Delaware has not responded to an Associated Press request for such data.

Bidding to avoid Florida’s ban, Democratic Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont last year proposed to end the special license designation for immigrants in the U.S. illegally and instead give them the same type of license as others not receiving a REAL ID. But the legislation never came to a vote.

In addition to Wyoming and Tennessee, at least a half-dozen other Republican-led states have considered legislation this year to invalidate certain types of out-of-state driver’s licenses issued to immigrants illegally in the U.S. Such legislation passed at least one chamber in Alabama, Montana and New Hampshire and was proposed in North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Carolina.

“We want to discourage illegal immigrants from coming to or staying in Alabama,” said state Sen. Chris Elliott, sponsor of the Alabama bill that awaits House consideration. If someone illegally in the U.S. drives to Alabama, “they should turn around and go somewhere else.”

Frustrated about the legislation, Democratic Alabama state Sen. Linda Coleman-Madison added an amendment requiring highway welcome signs to contain a notice about the prohibited driver’s licenses.

“We have people that come here for a lot of events — tourists, vacation, what have you — that could be caught in this. So we need to let people know,” she told AP. “I think some of our laws are mean-spirited, and sometimes I think we just have to call it like it is.”

The legislation targeting driver’s licenses is part of a “trend of states getting involved in federal immigration enforcement issues,” said Kathleen Campbell Walker, an immigration attorney in El Paso, Texas.

It’s unclear if the laws carry much substance. Some Florida advocates for immigrants said they are unaware of specific instances where the driver’s license ban has been enforced.

But “it is a concern,” said Jeannie Economos, of the Farmworker Association of Florida, “because some people who are undocumented have specifically gone to other states where driver’s licenses are legal to get driver’s licenses to have them here.”

California is among the states where immigrants unlawfully in the U.S. can get driver’s licenses. Trump’s immigration policies have created “anxiety and fear,” said Robert Perkins, a Los Angeles area attorney who helps immigrants gain legal status.

“Even the ones that might have a California driver’s license, they’re terrified to go anywhere,” Perkins said.

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Associated Press writers Susan Haigh and Kimberlee Kruesi contributed to this report.

NEW YORK — As President Donald Trump pushes the historical boundaries of executive power, some of the Democratic Party’s core political institutions are preparing for the possibility that the federal government may soon launch criminal investigations against them.

The Democrats’ dominant national fundraising platform, ActBlue, and the party’s largest protest group, Indivisible, are working with their attorneys for just such a scenario, according to officials within both organizations. Trump’s top political allies have suggested both groups should face prosecution.

Other Democratic allies are planning for Trump-backed legal crackdowns as well. Wary of antagonizing the president, most prefer to stay anonymous for now.

“Every one of our clients is concerned about being arbitrarily targeted by the Trump administration. We are going to great lengths to help clients prepare for or defend themselves,” said Ezra Reese, political law chair at Elias Law Group, which represents Democratic groups and candidates and is chaired by Marc Elias, the lawyer who has himself been a Trump target.

An FBI spokesperson declined to comment when asked about potential investigations into ActBlue and Indivisible. But White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt did not downplay the threat of a potential criminal probe when asked specifically whether Trump wants the FBI, the Treasury Department or any other federal agency to investigate Democratic groups.

“Anyone who has (not) broken the law should not be worried,” Leavitt told The Associated Press. “If you have broken the law and engaged in the weaponization of justice, then you should be worried. It’s that simple.”

Indeed, far from distancing themselves from talk of retribution, many key Republicans are embracing it.

Trump’s allies argue they are justified in seeking vengeance due to the four criminal prosecutions against Trump, one of which led to multiple felony convictions in New York. There’s no evidence former President Joe Biden influenced the Trump prosecutions in any way.

Matt Schlapp, president of the American Conservative Union, said Democrats needed to be taught not to touch a hot stove.

“Someone needs to get burned for all this activity or they’re just gonna do it again,” he said. “And that’s not hypocrisy; that’s justice.”

Trump has made no secret of his plans to use the power of the federal government to target domestic political adversaries.

During a norm-breaking speech at the Department of Justice last month, Trump cast himself as the country’s “chief law enforcement officer,” a title ordinarily reserved for the attorney general.

On Wednesday, Trump signed an executive order instructing the Justice Department to investigate Miles Taylor, a former Department of Homeland Security official who anonymously penned a book highly critical of his first presidency. Trump said that Taylor was likely guilty of treason, a crime that can carry the death penalty.

Indivisible has been perhaps the most important group in the Democratic resistance since Trump returned to the White House. The group’s leadership in Washington holds regular calls with state-based activists and recently released a detailed protest guide, which offers specific guidance to hundreds of local chapters across the country.

This year alone, Indivisible groups have hosted more than 1,000 protests covering every state in the nation. The group was a key organizer in the recent Hands Off! protests that attracted hundreds of thousands of people across the country.

Trump top adviser and billionaire Elon Musk has publicly condemned Indivisible as “criminals.”

The statement was an apparent reference to violent attacks against Tesla dealerships and vehicles, which have spiked in recent weeks. Indivisible’s leadership released a guide earlier in the year encouraging protests outside Tesla dealerships, although the guide instructs protesters to remain peaceful and stay off private property.

No charges are known to have been filed against Indivisible or its leaders. But Indivisible co-founder Ezra Levin says it’s critical that Democratic institutions work together to speak out against the threats posed by the Trump administration. His organization has been discussing contingency plans with attorneys and other activists in the event that he or other Indivisible leaders face criminal charges.

“They may try to come at us directly, or it’s as likely that their non-state actors are inspired by their lies and propaganda, and try to come at us individually,” Levin said. “And that is a risk in a moment where you’re facing anti-democratic threats like we are.”

“Our choice is, we can be quiet and hope that they won’t target us, or we can try to work as a mass opposition,” he continued. “If you’re not willing to do that, what are you doing here?”

Musk, backed by several Republican members of Congress, has also called on the FBI to investigate ActBlue, alleging that the Democratic Party’s main fundraising platform has skirted campaign finance laws and allowed foreign nationals to make illegal contributions to Democratic candidates.

“I think the FBI’s going to do something on ActBlue soon,” Charlie Kirk, a key Trump ally who founded the conservative group Turning Point USA, said at a political event last month in Wisconsin.

ActBlue officials this week told the AP that they would continue to cooperate with a congressional investigation led by House Republicans into allegations of fraud within the organization. ActBlue is preparing a second batch of documents to comply with a new request by House Republicans. Additionally, two ActBlue staffers are expected to testify before a House panel behind closed doors later this month.

Multiple House Republicans in recent weeks have encouraged federal law enforcement agencies to pursue requested criminal investigations into ActBlue.

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., has asked the Treasury Department to investigate allegations that the nonprofit processed payments to “terror-linked organizations.” Separately, Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., sent a letter to the FBI last month claiming that ActBlue is being used to “to skirt the integrity of federal campaign finance laws” by allowing foreign nationals to contribute to campaigns, among other allegations of criminal wrongdoing.

“It must be emphasized that these allegations, were they to prove true, would indicate a serious threat to the integrity of our elections, besides the victimization of American citizens,” Biggs wrote.

ActBlue said it is preparing for the possibility of “many different attacks on various fronts,” including investigations by the FBI or the Treasury Department.

Meanwhile, Democratic candidates are relying on ActBlue to fund their campaigns as never before.

Donors have given more than $400 million to Democratic candidates through ActBlue over the first three months of the year, the organization told the AP. The fundraising haul represents the most money raised in any first quarter in ActBlue’s two-decade history.

While Republicans accuse the group of being funded by wealthy donors, ActBlue acts as a passthrough between donors and candidates that’s funded by a 3.95% processing fee on each donation.

“These unfounded attacks haven’t shaken us — they’ve sharpened our resolve to fuel Democratic wins,” ActBlue spokesperson Megan Hughes said. “As our first-quarter fundraising demonstrates, Democratic grassroots donors are engaged, undeterred and ready to meet this moment.”

Leavitt is one of three administration officials who face a lawsuit from the AP on First- and Fifth Amendment grounds. The AP says the three are punishing the news agency for editorial decisions they oppose. The White House says the AP is not following an executive order to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.

WASHINGTON — Republicans narrowly got their budget plan over the finish line. Now comes the hard part.

The resolution adopted this week was only a first step that allows Republicans to draft legislation that they can push through Congress without Democratic support. Next, they begin crafting a final bill with enough spending cuts to satisfy those on the right while not jeopardizing the reelection prospects of more vulnerable lawmakers whose constituents rely on key safety net programs.

With thin majorities in the House and Senate, Republicans can afford to lose hardly any votes from their side of the aisle as they draft legislation, giving every individual lawmaker leverage over the process.

“It’s going to take all of us to get it done,” said House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La.

The road ahead is daunting.

Republicans are determined to extend the individual tax cuts that were approved during President Donald Trump’s first term before they expire at year’s end. But they intend for the legislation to do far more than that, potentially enacting a host of tax reductions that Trump promised during the campaign, such as no income tax on tips and overtime.

And the tax cuts are only half the equation. Conservatives in the House gave the budget plan the final votes needed for passage Thursday after they said they received assurances from leadership in both chambers that they would work to have a final product with at least $1.5 trillion in spending cuts — forcing changes to federal programs including Medicaid that could prove hard for some in the party to support.

“The struggles Republicans have faced so far are only a glimmer of what’s to come,” said Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer.

Rep. Max Miller, R-Ohio, senses a difficult fight for Republicans. He said Trump has made clear he doesn’t want any benefit cuts for those who get health insurance coverage through Medicaid, which could conflict with the desire some conservatives have for steep spending cuts.

“If it’s this rocky now, it’s only going to get worse from here on out if the speaker is not able to get the entire conference in line,” Miller said.

Democrats have framed the debate as Republicans looking to slash key government programs so they can pass tax cuts that predominately help wealthier households. It’s a message Democrats will hammer home leading up to the 2026 midterm elections.

“At this point, they’re all worried about primaries and they are worried about Elon’s money, but they ought to be worried about a general election as well,” said Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., referring to Trump’s billionaire ally, Elon Musk. “I think it’s going to be very difficult for a moderate Republican, if there’s still any left, to be able to vote for this and go home and defend it.”

Some Republicans also made clear to GOP leadership before Thursday’s budget vote that they will be closely monitoring the changes to Medicaid in the final bill.

“This was just making sure that there is a clear understanding here that there are a group of members that will not cut benefits from seniors and our most vulnerable New Yorkers who rely on Medicaid,” said Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who is up for reelection next year, said she’s also made her position known to leadership.

“I could not make my position on Medicaid cuts clearer,” she said. “I am not going to support cuts that affect low-income families, disabled individuals, low-income seniors, rural hospitals.”

Republicans say their focus is on instilling work requirements for able-bodied beneficiaries and more rigorous eligibility assessments. But Democrats say Republicans can’t generate the savings being discussed without also cutting benefits.

Meanwhile, Republicans see extending the individual and estate tax cuts passed in Trump’s first term as key to their electoral success next year. The House Ways and Means Committee says a family of four making $80,610, the median income in the United States, would see a $1,695 tax increase if the tax cuts are not extended.

Republicans spent the last few years blaming the Biden administration for increasing the debt, and a key test will be how many keep that focus as they seek to extend and expand tax cuts.

A recent estimate from the Joint Committee on Taxation projects that extending the 2017 tax breaks will add $5.5 trillion over the next decade when including interest, and $4.6 trillion not including interest. On top of that, adding Trump’s campaign promises would swell the price tag to $7 trillion.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said he’ll advocate for splitting the measure into two reconciliation bills if Republicans take too long to get to a final product.

“I’m going to say break it apart, because they need money for the border yesterday and they also need money for DoD,” Graham said, referring to the Department of Defense.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said he looked forward to the challenge and there was a lot of work ahead.

“The American people are counting on us,” Johnson said.

Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., said he’s confident a final bill will pass with the House winning the most important tussles on the scope of taxes and spending cuts.

“I will bet you they will fold rather than inflict the largest tax increase in American history on their voters,” Cole said of the Senate. “And two-thirds of them, with all due respect, aren’t on the ballot next time. … Whereas everyone here is on the line. And our majority is much more on the line that their majority is.”

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Associated Press staff writers Mary Clare Jalonick, Lisa Mascaro and Stephen Groves contributed to this report.

NEW YORK — Former Sen. Joe Manchin has a memoir coming out in September, what the self-styled maverick from West Virginia calls his “declaration of independence from the extremes on both sides.”

St. Martin’s Press announced Tuesday that Manchin’s “Dead Center: In Defense of Common Sense” will be released Sept. 16.

Manchin, 77, announced last year he wouldn’t seek re-election after serving in the Senate since 2010 and becoming the rare Democrat to win in a state which otherwise votes for Republicans by wide margins. Manchin had long branded himself as a moderate beholden to no ideology and would often chastise Democrats or upend legislation when Senate Democrats held a tiny majority during the presidency of fellow party member Joe Biden.

Last summer, Manchin left the Democrats altogether and identified as an independent, although he continued to caucus with his former party. In a statement issued through St. Martin’s, he said that “Dead Center” was a “declaration of independence” and a handbook for governing.

“I believe successful leadership in any arena is about understanding the art and science of collaboration and compromise, civility and respect, negotiations and solutions,” he said. “Leaders should be positive change agents and bring people and organizations together rather than drive them apart.”

Manchin’s book will include a foreword by longtime friend Nick Saban, the former coach who is to be inducted this year into the College Football Hall of Fame.

According to St. Martin’s, Manchin will track his rise from the coal fields of Farmington, West Virginia, to the heights of power in the Senate. The publisher is calling his book a “revealing and entertaining memoir” in which Manchin “reflects on the pivotal moments, tough decisions, and core values that have shaped him as a person and a public servant.”

“Senator Manchin combines eyebrow-raising, never-before-told stories from inside the Senate and the White House with insights into how government does — or doesn’t — work,” the statement reads.

ATLANTA — Georgia lawmakers are giving up on creating a statewide database to collect information on students who might commit violence, even as they push forward other parts of a school safety bill aimed at preventing a school shooting like the one in September at Apalachee High School.

House and Senate lawmakers unveiled a compromise version of House Bill 268 on Thursday, which then passed the Senate Judiciary committee unanimously. That sets it up for final passage in the closing days of Georgia’s 2025 legislative session.

The push to share information was driven by the belief among many that the Barrow County school system didn’t have a full picture of the warning signs displayed by the 14-year-old accused in the fatal shootings of two students and two teachers. But there was loud opposition from both Democratic and Republican constituencies that the database would create a permanent blacklist with no due process that could treat racial and religious minorities unfairly.

“The reason it wasn’t going to fly was pushback from all points of the political spectrum that worried about their child being stigmatized just for an accusation or an uncorroborated complaint,” said Sen. Bill Cowsert, an Athens Republican representing parts of Barrow County.

The compromise version also removed a requirement that all school systems set up formal threat management teams to evaluate whether students may commit violence. That approach is strongly recommended by many national experts, and the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency already offers training. House Education Committee Chairman Chris Erwin, a Republican from Homer, said he was hopeful schools would voluntarily adopt the model.

“I think there is a knowledge out there of the importance of planning and preparing already in schools,” Erwin said. “So having a full model structure for the state isn’t as important as maybe we once thought it was.”

The measure would still require police agencies to report to schools when officers learn that a child has threatened death or injury to someone at a school. But those reports aren’t mandated to become part of a student’s educational record and wouldn’t travel with a student if they transfer to another district.

That raises questions about whether the bill addresses one of the key criticisms that followed the Apalachee shooting. School officials never became aware that a sheriff’s deputy in Jackson County had interviewed Colt Gray in May 2023 after the FBI passed along a tip that Gray might have posted a shooting threat online. That report would have been forwarded to middle school officials in Jackson County under the bill, but wouldn’t have followed Gray when he enrolled as a freshman in nearby Barrow County after skipping eighth grade entirely.

The bill also mandates quicker transfers of records when a student enters a new school, creates at least one new position to help coordinate mental health treatment for students in each of Georgia’s 180 school districts and sets up an anonymous reporting system statewide.

Lawmakers on Thursday added in features of separate Senate bills that had passed. They would mandate that all Georgia public schools provide wearable panic buttons to employees. Public schools would also be required to submit electronic maps of their campuses to local, state and federal agencies once a year.

The amended bill would also make adult prosecution the default when children aged 13 to 16 are charged with terroristic acts at school, any aggravated assault with a gun, or attempted murder. The Senate had originally proposed a broader range of crimes when adult prosecution would be the default. House leaders had said they didn’t want to submit any more juveniles to adult prosecution.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama lawmakers on Tuesday approved a ban on Glock switches and other conversion devices that convert semi-automatic weapons into machine guns, after a deadly year that included multiple mass shootings.

A bipartisan coalition pushed the Alabama legislation after several multiple mass shootings last year, including the shooting deaths of four people outside a Birmingham nightclub in September. The devices are already banned under federal law, but there’s currently no state law that bans them.

The Alabama Senate voted 24-2 to accept the House of Representatives changes to the bill. The measure now goes to Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, who is expected to sign it after calling for its passage in her State of the State address.

“Passing gun safety legislation in Alabama is not easy. But the hard work of building a bipartisan coalition has resulted in the passage of this life-saving legislation,” said state Rep. Phillip Ensler, a Montgomery Democrat, who had urged the measure for three years.

“While laws cannot bring back victims of gun violence, this ban can help save lives moving forward,” he said.

Republican state Sen. Will Barfoot of Pike Road sponsored the bill that was approved this year. Possessing or selling the devices would be a Class C felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

The measure will take effect immediately if it is signed into law.

The devices are banned under federal law and in 23 states, according to Everytown for Gun Safety. Supporters said a state ban will allow local law enforcement to prosecute people for the possession of the devices. Police say the devices produce a rapid, hard-to-control spray of bullets that increase the number of casualties during a shooting.

The bill passed without significant opposition, a rare consensus on gun legislation in the deeply red state. Alabama lawmakers in 2022 voted to end the requirement to get a permit to carry a concealed handgun in public.

Alabama has one of the highest rates of gun violence in the U.S. In 2022, there were 1,278 gun-related deaths in Alabama, which was the fourth-highest gun death rate in the country, ranking below Mississippi, Louisiana and New Mexico.

RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina state Senate Republicans advanced a disaster recovery measure Tuesday to direct $533 million in additional spending to meet still-pressing needs from Hurricane Helene’s historic flooding and destruction last fall, but it also locates more relief funding for earlier storms.

The legislation that cleared the Senate’s budget-writing committee is wider in scope than a $500 million relief package approved unanimously last week by the House that focused on Helene’s destruction in western North Carolina.

Spending provisions within the Senate proposal locates an additional $217 million to complete lingering home construction projects for victims of Hurricanes Matthew in 2016 and Florence in 2018 in eastern North Carolina. The package also lays the groundwork to assist farmers who suffered agricultural losses last year — not just from Helene but also from drought and tornadoes.

“We feel that we need to move with urgency to get this bill across the finish line,” said Sen. Brent Jackson, a Senate Appropriations Committee chairman. “Citizens across all our 100 counties faced disasters in 2024.”

A Senate floor vote on the chamber’s bill was expected Wednesday. While House Republicans also are advancing agricultural assistance and Matthew and Florence relief in other measures, top House and Senate leaders later Tuesday said they believed they could agree upon a final supplemental disaster relief bill quickly — possibly by the end of the week — then send it to Democratic Gov. Josh Stein’s desk.

“Everybody wants the same thing — to get people help,” said state Rep. John Bell, who has been shepherding the House’s $500 million measure.

Last month, Stein offered his own $1.07 billion proposal for additional Helene relief. The amount would double the money already appropriated or made available by the General Assembly for Helene recovery activities since late last year. But GOP legislators seek to spend less now, saying they want to be careful about maximizing federal matching funds and avoiding mistakes after previous storms.

North Carolina state officials reported over 100 deaths from Helene, which caused a record $59.6 billion in damages and recovery needs. More than five months later, over 5,700 households in western counties are still receiving temporary housing assistance and more than 200 public roads in the region remain closed or just partially opened, according to state data.

Legislative leaders and Stein agree that more money will be allocated for Helene relief later this year in the state budget because the needs are so great, even with billions arriving from Washington.

“The underlying message I want to leave with people is we’re making progress but it’s just a start,” Stein said of Helene recovery at the monthly meeting of statewide elected officials earlier Tuesday. “This work is long term and it’s going to be hard, and we all have to be there together.”

Like the House legislation, the Senate proposal emphasizes repairs for damaged homes, private bridges and roads, assistance to farmers and rebuilding infrastructure adjacent to small businesses. The Senate plan omits a House provision that would allow $15 million to go to nonprofit organizations that could then offer grants to small businesses. Stein and fellow Democrats have pleaded for direct grants to help businesses already weighed down with loans.

The Senate plan does provide money — although not as much as Stein sought — for local school districts that closed for many weeks due to Helene to offer summer school instruction. The House plan left out the program.

Republican lawmakers have been angry with delays in the Florence and Matthew housing reconstruction program, which was created by then-Gov. Roy Cooper’s administration and funded with federal dollars.

While about 3,300 home construction projects have been completed through the state Office of Recovery and Resiliency, state funds are now needed to complete another 1,000 that remain in various stages of construction. Office leaders blamed the delays on the COVID-19 pandemic, rising construction costs, labor shortages and ultimately management mistakes. The agency’s chief operating officer left her job in November.

Both the Senate measure and a separate House bill also approved Tuesday in another committee provides the $217 million, but each bill requires significant monitoring and oversight requirements in how it’s spent. Language in both bills would ultimately shut down the Office of Recovery and Resiliency. Stein’s administration is handling Helene-related home reconstruction through a new agency.

WASHINGTON — Republican senators pushed a $340 billion budget framework to passage early Friday, chugging through an all-night session and Democratic opposition in a step toward unleashing money the Trump administration says it needs for mass deportations and border security that top their agenda.

The hours-long “vote-a-rama” rambled along, in a dreaded, but crucial part of the budget process, as senators considered one amendment after another, largely from Democrats trying to halt it. But Republicans used their majority power to muscle the package to approval on a largely party-line vote, 52-48.

“What we’re doing today is jumpstarting a process that will allow the Republican Party to meet President Trump’s immigration agenda,” Senate Budget Committee chair Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said while opening the debate.

Graham said President Donald Trump’s top immigration czar, Tom Homan, told senators that the administration’s deportation operations are “out of money” and need more funding from Congress to detain and deport immigrants.

With little power in the minority to stop the onslaught, Democrats instead used the all-night debate to force GOP senators into potentially embarrassing votes — including the first one, on blocking tax breaks to billionaires. It was turned back, on procedural grounds. So were many others.

“This is going to be a long, drawn-out fight,” warned Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York.

The package is what Republicans view as a down payment on Trump’s agenda, part of a broader effort that will eventually include legislation to extend some $4.5 trillion in tax breaks and other priorities. That’s being assembled by House Speaker Mike Johnson in a separate budget package that also seeks up to $2 trillion in reductions to health care and other programs.

Trump has preferred what he calls one “big, beautiful bill,” but the White House is open to the Senate’s strategy of working on the border package first, then turning to tax cuts later this year.

As voting began, the president signaled his go-ahead, posting a thank you to Senate Majority Leader John Thune “and the Republican Senate, for working so hard on funding the Trump Border Agenda.”

The Republican Senate package would allow up to $175 billion to be spent on border security, including money for mass deportation operations and building the U.S.-Mexico border wall, in addition to a $150 billion boost to the Pentagon and about $20 billion for the Coast Guard.

But there won’t be any money flowing just yet, as the process has several steps ahead. The budget resolution is simply a framework that sends instructions to the various Senate committees — Homeland Security, Armed Services, Judiciary — to hammer out the details. Everything will eventually be assembled in another package, with another vote-a-rama down the road.

Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., the No. 2-ranking Senate Republican, said GOP lawmakers are acting quickly to get the administration the resources they have requested and need to curb illegal border crossings.

“The budget will allow us to finish the wall. It also takes the steps we need toward more border agents,” Barrasso said. “It means more detention beds. … It means more deportation flights.”

Republicans insist the whole thing will be paid for, rather than piled onto debt, with potential spending cuts and new revenues.

The committees are expected to consider rolling back the Biden administration’s methane emissions fee, which was approved by Democrats as part of climate change strategies in the Inflation Reduction Act, and hoping to draw new revenue from energy leases as they aim to spur domestic energy production.

One amendment that was accepted after several hours of debate was actually a Republican effort to fend off criticism that the package would be paid for by cutting safety net programs. The amendment from Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, said Medicaid and Medicare would be strengthened during the budget process.

First up from Democrats was a vote to prevent tax breaks for billionaires — an amendment that was repeated in various forms throughout the night.

Democrats argue that the GOP tax cuts approved in 2017 flowed to the wealthiest Americans, and extending them as Trump wants Congress to do later this year would prolong the giveaway. Even though the billionaire amendments failed, they picked up some Republican support. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine voted for several of them, and Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri voted for another.

Schumer launched a strategy earlier this week to use the budget debate to focus on both the implications of the tax policy and the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, which is slashing across the federal government.

It’s a better approach for Democrats than arguing against tougher border security and deportations, which divides the party.

All told, senators processed almost three dozen amendments on reversing DOGE cuts, protecting federal workers from being fired, ensuring U.S. support for Ukraine as it battles Russia and others.

Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, said the single biggest driver of the national debt since 2001 has been a series of Republican-led tax cuts.

“And you’ll never guess what our Republican colleagues on the other side of the aisle are focused on right now, nothing to lower the cost of eggs, it’s actually more Republican tax cuts,” Murray said.

She called the budget plan a “roadmap for painful cuts to programs families count on each and every day, all so they can give billionaires more tax cuts.”

The budget resolution is setting up what’s called the reconciliation process, which used to be rare, but is now the tool often used to pass big bills on party-line votes when one party has control of the White House and Congress, as Republicans do now.

But Republicans are arguing with themselves over how to proceed. The House is marching ahead on its “big, beautiful bill,” believing they have one chance to get it right. The Senate views its two-bill strategy as more practical, delivering on border security first, then turning to taxes later.

Budget rules allow for passage by a simple majority vote, which is key in the Senate, where it typically takes 60 votes to break a filibuster on big items. During Trump’s first term, Republicans used the reconciliation process to pass GOP tax cuts in 2017. Democrats used reconciliation during Joe Biden’s presidency to approve COVID-19 relief and the Inflation Reduction Act.

Trump appears to be stirring the fight, pitting Republicans in the House and Senate against each other to see which one delivers fastest.

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Associated Press writer Darlene Superville contributed to this report.

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has repeatedly challenged Senate Republicans with his Cabinet picks. But his nomination of Lori Chavez-DeRemer for labor secretary may be proving the hardest for many to accept.

Chavez-DeRemer, a former congresswoman from Oregon, hardly cuts the profile of a traditional Republican nominee. She is the daughter of a lifelong Teamsters member. She’s a small business owner who served as the mayor of a fast-growing suburb in liberal Portland, Oregon. And in the House, she co-sponsored legislation championed by America’s labor unions.

That background is why Trump, encouraged by some allies, nominated Chavez-DeRemer to lead the Labor Department. Her selection has scrambled the usual partisan divides, attracting some Democratic support even as her union-friendly stances generate concern and in some cases outright opposition from many Republicans.

But that shakeup is exactly the goal for Trump and allied Republicans, who aim to cast aside the party’s long-held antipathy toward unions and lure more voters away from the Democratic Party.

“The party has changed,” said Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., a proponent of Trump’s Cabinet nominees who says he speaks with Chavez-DeRemer on a regular basis.

“If you look at the new coalition of supporters that President Trump brought to the party, labor being one of them … Lori’s a perfect person to kind of fit that gap,” he said.

But that view is far from unanimous across the GOP, with some Senate Republicans outright opposed to her confirmation.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who sits on the Senate committee overseeing labor issues, criticized Chavez-DeRemer’s past support for the PRO Act, saying the law would overturn state laws that require an employee be able to refrain from joining a labor union.

Yet Paul said he believes Chavez-DeRemer will likely be confirmed on an unusually bipartisan basis.

“I think she’ll lose 15 Republicans and she’ll get 25 Democrats,” Paul told reporters. “But she’s very pro-labor. She might get all the Democrats, who knows.”

If confirmed, Chavez-DeRemer will confront growing challenges in the workplace at a time of resurgent union organizing. The Labor Department’s reach is vast, covering investigations into labor practices, debates over in-office and remote work and concerns over automation as artificial intelligence products surge across the economy.

Chavez-DeRemer, like other Trump Cabinet nominees, has kept quiet ahead of her confirmation hearing, which is set for Wednesday. But in the past, she’s been blunt about her backing of organized labor. As a House member, she often welcomed union members into her office for meetings, and she touted her support from her district’s union chapters on the campaign trail.

“In my district, unions aren’t the enemy of small businesses, they’re a partner. Small businesses benefit from the presence of unions. As a small business owner, I know this better than most,” Chavez-DeRemer said in a 2024 reelection ad.

When she sat on the House subcommittee that oversees labor issues, Chavez-DeRemer was often absent from hearings that her Republican colleagues held to lambast unions.

“When I was asked to be on that committee, I let them know ahead of time that I would be somewhat challenging maybe some of the views and they are OK with that,” Chavez-DeRemer said during a 2023 interview with the union-run Northwest Labor Press.

Union leaders took notice.

Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, one of the largest labor unions in the country, is supporting Chavez-DeRemer and said she hopes Trump “gives her the power that President Roosevelt gave Francis Perkins,” the trailblazing labor secretary who oversaw the New Deal.

“You already see the anti-labor people in the Republican Party trying to mount a case against her,” Weingarten said. “I thought it was important for those of us who believe in labor rights and worker empowerment to stand up and say that that this was unconventional and a positive appointment.”

Chavez-Demer’s nomination also has the support of Sean O’Brien, the president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. He made waves ahead of last year’s election by speaking at the Republican convention before the Teamsters declined to endorse Trump or Democrat Kamala Harris for president.

O’Brien approached Mullin after the election and floated Chavez-DeRemer’s name, arguing she could be an olive branch to organized labor, Mullin recalled. They then went together and pitched Trump on the idea.

The team-up would have been unimaginable in 2023, when O’Brien lambasted Mullin as a “greedy CEO who pretends like he’s self-made” at a hearing that nearly devolved into a fistfight. But in the interceding years, they’d developed a friendship over sports, fitness and the politics of work.

“We’re a bit of an odd couple, I guess,” Mullin said.

Trump’s outreach to voters from once heavily unionized communities has been a driving force behind the new union-friendly approach. Others in the party have been working toward the same goal. Conservative academics and policy aides have been organizing behind the scenes for years as part of an effort to shift the GOP’s thinking on economics.

“At a high level, the change has been a shift from defaulting to a pro-business perspective,” said Abigail Ball, the executive director at American Compass, a conservative think tank. Ball said the “failure of globalization” has pushed many conservatives toward a new approach.

“I think the American people very much realized that trade and the cheap TV was not worth the loss of strong communities and the ability for a guy who did not go to college to support his family on one income,” Ball said.

Republican senators are broadly receptive to Chavez-DeRemer’s nomination. But several have noted how unconventional the pick is for a Republican president.

“She voted for the PRO Act. I don’t like that. But I like her. I think she’ll be good,” said Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala.

“My attitude is the president won the election, and he’s entitled to his team absent extraordinary circumstances,” said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. “She’s maybe not somebody I would have chosen, but that’s not the question as far as I’m concerned.”

Some Republican senators with a more populist bent hope Chavez-DeRemer’s nomination serves as a nod to the party’s changing base, which has come to include more working-class voters in traditionally unionized service and manufacturing jobs.

“I think she understands the need to have strong unions, to have a strong labor voice and protect labor,” said Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., who sits on the Senate committee overseeing labor issues.

“We need more American jobs at better wages. We need more good union jobs,” Hawley said. “I think she understands that.”

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Follow the AP’s coverage of the U.S. Department of Labor at https://apnews.com/hub/us-department-of-labor.

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WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Wednesday will sign the Laken Riley Act into law as his administration’s first piece of legislation. It mandates the detention and potential deportation of people in the U.S. illegally who are accused of theft and violent crimes before they’ve actually been convicted.

The measure swiftly passed the Republican-controlled Congress with some Democratic support, despite immigrants rights advocates decrying it as extreme enough to possibly trigger mass roundups of people for offenses as minor as shoplifting.

Trump has made a promised crackdown on illegal immigration unprecedented in the nation’s history a centerpiece of his political career, however, and is now suggesting the law might only be the beginning.

“This shows the potential for additional enforcement bills that will help us crack down on criminal aliens and totally restore the rule of law in our country,” the president said at a conference of House Republicans held at his Doral golf club in Florida.

The law is named for Laken Riley, a 22-year-old Georgia nursing student who went out for a run in February 2024 and was killed by Jose Antonio Ibarra, a Venezuelan national in the U.S. illegally. Ibarra was found guilty in November and sentenced to life without parole.

“To have a bill of such importance named after her is a great, a great tribute,” Trump said. “This new form of crime, criminal, illegal aliens, it’s — it’s massive, the numbers are massive and you add that to the crime we already had.”

The speed at which the act cleared Congress — and the fact that Trump is preparing to triumphantly sign it at the White House surrounded by lawmakers and other supportive, invited guests just nine days after taking office — adds to its potent political symbolism for conservatives. Critics say the measure is using a tragedy to effectively unleash chaos and cruelty while doing little to fight crime or fix an antiquated federal immigration system that hasn’t been overhauled in decades.

Under the Laken Riley Act, federal officials are required to detain any immigrant arrested or charged with crimes like theft or assaulting a police officer, or offenses that injure or kill someone. It further gives legal standing to state attorneys general to sue the U.S. government for harm caused by federal immigration decisions — potentially allowing the leaders of conservative states to help dictate immigration policy set by Washington.

Ibarra had been arrested for illegal entry in September 2022 near El Paso, Texas, amid an unprecedented surge in migration, and released to pursue his case in immigration court. Federal officials say he was arrested by New York police in August 2023 for child endangerment and released. Police say he was also suspected of theft in Georgia in October 2023 — all of which occurred before Riley’s killing.

“This is the right thing to do,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said after the act cleared the House. “It’s always good when the right thing is also the popular thing.”

Some Democrats, however, have questioned the act’s constitutionality. Immigrant advocates are bracing for mass detentions that they say will trigger subsequent, costly construction of immigration lockup facilities to house the people arrested.

“They don’t just get to celebrate. They get to use this for their mass deportation agenda,” Naureen Shah, deputy director of government affairs in the equality division of the American Civil Liberties Union, said of the act’s supporters.

The ALCU says the act can allow people to be “mandatorily locked up — potentially for years — because at some point in their lives, perhaps decades ago, they were accused of nonviolent offenses.”

Hannah Flamm, interim senior director of policy at the International Refugee Assistance Project, said the law violates immigrants’ basic rights by allowing for detaining people who haven’t been charged with, much less convicted of, wrongdoing. Still, she said, “The latent fear from the election cycle of looking soft on crime snowballed into aiding and abetting Trump’s total conflation of immigration with crime.”

Flamm said the act is likely to be challenged in court on its parameters directing mandatory detentions, as well as its granting legal standing to state attorneys general in immigration cases and policy. But she also predicted that a need to pay for more immigration detention centers will give advocates a chance to challenge how federal funds are appropriated to cover those costs.

“I think it is pivotal to understand: This bill, framed as connected to a tragic death, is pretext to fortify a mass deportation system,” Flamm said.

The signing of the Laken Riley Act follows a flurry of first-week executive orders by Trump that are designed to better seal off the U.S.-Mexico border and eventually move to deport millions of immigrants without permanent U.S. legal status. The new administration has also canceled refugee resettlement and says it may attempt to prosecute local law enforcement officials who do not enforce his new immigration policies.

“We’re tracking down the illegal alien criminals and we’re detaining them and we’re throwing them the hell out of our country,” Trump said. “We have no apologies, and we’re moving forward very fast.”