President Donald Trump on Tuesday called on Republican lawmakers to pass funding for immigration enforcement through budget reconciliation, a process that would bypass Democratic opposition in the Senate. The appeal came as the Senate approved a motion to begin a budget reconciliation process in a 52-to-46 vote, paving the way for funding Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection.

Budget reconciliation is a fast-track procedure that allows legislation to pass the 100-seat Senate with a simple majority rather than the 60 votes ordinarily needed to overcome a filibuster. Congressional committees craft the legislation to meet spending targets, subject to certain limitations. Republican lawmakers previously used the process last year to pass Trump's tax and spending package without any Democratic votes.

In a social media post, Trump urged conservatives to unify behind the effort to end the current deadlock. "Senate Majority Leader John Thune, and Senator Lindsey Graham, have taken a critical first step to passing another Reconciliation Bill to fund our Great Border Patrol and ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] Agents," he wrote. "Republicans must stick together and UNIFY to get this done, and to keep America safe — something which the Democrats don't care about," Trump added in the post.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune addressed the path forward on Tuesday. "It's not my preference. But it is reality," Thune said.

Graham also backed the push in a social media post. "Fully fund Border Patrol and ICE for the rest of the Trump presidency!" he wrote.

A partial government shutdown has affected the U.S. Department of Homeland Security since mid-February. The department oversees the Transportation Security Administration and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Democrats have refused to support further spending for ICE and Customs and Border Protection without reforms, while Republicans have rejected those demands. Proposed reforms include requiring immigration agents to clearly identify themselves and to avoid racial profiling. Federal agents fatally shot Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good in January during an immigration crackdown in Minneapolis. The Republican Party holds a small majority in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, meaning Republicans are seeking reconciliation to move legislation without Democratic votes.