Buried within President Donald Trump’s ambitious “big, beautiful bill” is a strategic provision that could funnel billions back to Texas—reimbursing the Lone Star State for the enormous costs it shouldered while the Biden administration abdicated its responsibility to secure the southern border.

According to a Fox News report, the legislation includes $12 billion for a grant program specifically designed to offset state expenses related to combatting illegal immigration during the previous Democratic administration’s tenure. Though the provision was added mere hours before the final House vote, Republican lawmakers say it was months in the making.

Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), a seasoned former chairman of both the House Homeland Security and Foreign Affairs Committees, explained the provision’s background in an interview with Fox.

“Early on, [Homeland Security Committee Chair] Mark Green [R-Tenn.] and I were discussing reconciliation going through the Homeland Security Committee. And, you know, there was about $70 billion for the border,” McCaul said. “Texas bore the brunt of the federal mission the last four years and deserves to be reimbursed. And so he agreed, had a conversation with Governor [Greg] Abbott [R], and he agreed.”

While the language of the bill doesn’t explicitly name Texas, insiders confirmed to Fox News Digital that the provision was inserted largely at the behest of Texas lawmakers. Those familiar with the behind-the-scenes efforts revealed that Texas has racked up just over $11 billion in expenses from Governor Greg Abbott’s ongoing mission to defend the state’s border where the Biden administration failed.

“The fact of the matter is, when you look at the costs that were borne, Texas had the lion’s share of [the burden] carrying out the federal mission when the Biden administration completely failed to deliver on border security,” McCaul said. “My state built the border wall and built detention facilities. We bore a lot of costs.”

One of the state’s largest initiatives, Operation Lone Star, alone cost $11.1 billion, as noted by The Texas Tribune. That figure includes $5.87 billion for personnel and $4.75 billion for physical border infrastructure.

Rather than placing the measure in the initial draft of the bill, McCaul said GOP leaders added it to a “manager’s amendment” introduced Wednesday night—an often-used legislative tactic to bundle last-minute items requiring final negotiations.

“The legislative process, it’s something I’ve gotten to know over my 20 years, and how to get things done up here. And I thought, you know, the way we worked it was strategically very smart,” McCaul told Fox. “It’s going to the Senate now. And Senator [John] Cornyn [R-Texas] is going to take it up, be the champion in the Senate.”

McCaul initiated the reimbursement push in early February alongside Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Governor Abbott. He also worked closely with Rep. August Pfluger (R-TX), chairman of the Republican Study Committee, who echoed McCaul’s call for federal accountability.

“Texas spent $11.1 billion on border security, including $5.87 billion on personnel costs and $4.75 billion on border wall and barriers. When the federal government failed to secure our border and protect our communities, Texans stepped up,” Pfluger said.

Speaker Johnson praised McCaul’s leadership in ensuring conservative states were not left to bear the costs of Biden’s negligence.

“Thanks to Rep. McCaul, states that stepped up to protect Americans in the face of Biden’s border catastrophe will be reimbursed for doing the work the Biden Administration refused to do,” Johnson stated. “Had those patriotic governors not taken action and used the resources of their state, the devastation from Biden’s wide-open border would have been significantly worse.”

Homeland Security Chair Mark Green also emphasized the constitutional obligation that Biden ignored, forcing states like Texas to fill the vacuum.

“In the absence of help from the Biden-Harris administration, states were forced to take extraordinary measures to mitigate the crisis and protect their communities by building barrier systems and increasing law enforcement activity,” Green said.

The reimbursement funding is part of a broader multi-trillion-dollar package currently advancing through Congress via the budget reconciliation process, offering conservatives a unique opportunity to secure critical priorities—like border security—without relying on Democrats for support.

With strong momentum in the House and an expected champion in Senator Cornyn, conservatives are signaling that under President Trump, the era of open borders and state-level financial sacrifice for federal failure is coming to an end.