WASHINGTON — Texas is set to receive $7.5 billion from a federal fund to reimburse states for border costs incurred when Joe Biden was president, Sen. John Cornyn told The Texas Tribune in an interview, shedding light for the first time on the Lone Star State’s haul more than a year after Congress authorized the funding.

Cornyn, a Texas Republican who was defeated in his primary this year, said Gov. Greg Abbott and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin had negotiated the $7.5 billion amount. That accounts for three-quarters of the $10 billion in grant funding that is up for grabs from Mullin’s agency.

But getting that money into the hands of states has been slow going. The state border reimbursement fund was created in July 2025 in the One, Big Beautiful Bill Act, the tax-and-spending megabill supported by nearly all Republicans and uniformly opposed by Democrats. The bill authorized $13.5 billion in grant funding to state governments, a massive priority for Texas’ Republican delegation in Congress and for Cornyn, who pushed for its inclusion during negotiations over the legislation.

Texas, which spent over $11 billion on border security through Abbott’s Operation Lone Star initiative during the Biden era, has long been expected to receive the lion’s share of the funding.

Cornyn said Abbott and Mullin worked out the deal “maybe a month ago,” but added, “we haven’t seen any real movement on that since that time.”

“It’s something that’s passed into law over a year ago,” Cornyn said. “It’s a little maddening to feel like you’re pulling teeth, but that’s sort of what it feels like.”

DHS opened applications for $10 billion worth of grant funding in early June, 11 months after the bill’s passage. The application deadline was originally in early July, but the department extended it to mid-September. Abbott announced in late June that Texas had submitted its application and said he would work to swiftly secure reimbursement.

In a statement for this story, Abbott spokesperson Andrew Mahaleris said the governor would continue to pursue reimbursement. He did not address Abbott’s conversations with Mullin or the details relayed by Cornyn.

“Texas spent billions in Texas taxpayer money to secure the border under Operation Lone Star after the Biden Administration refused to enforce federal immigration law,” Mahaleris said. “Governor Abbott will continue working with Secretary Mullin and the Trump Administration to ensure Texas is reimbursed for the costs it incurred on behalf of the nation.”

A second pot of border reimbursement money — worth $3.5 billion — will be doled out by the Department of Justice. That grant program, which is open to county and city governments as well, took applications in June and July.

The timeline, Cornyn said, has been “a little frustrating.”

“Obviously, we’re going to try to maximize what the state of Texas can get,” Cornyn said. “The administration has been supportive the whole time. But I think some people are beginning to wonder — why is it taking so long to get the money actually done? And is this going to create a political problem for the administration in Texas?

“Here we are two months before the midterm elections,” Cornyn continued. “I hope that’s not the case, but that’s kind of where we are right now.”

The clock is also ticking for state lawmakers who will return to the Texas Capitol in January for their 140-day legislative session, during which they will pass the state’s budget for the next two years. The spending plan hinges on the Texas comptroller’s estimate — also typically delivered in January — of how much revenue the state will have at its disposal for the upcoming budget cycle. If Texas’ federal reimbursement is still up in the air by then, it could have ramifications for budget writers, who most recently authored a $338 billion spending plan, aided by a projected $24 billion surplus.

Shortly after President Donald Trump was inaugurated in 2025, Abbott sent a letter to congressional leadership requesting reimbursement for the cost of Operation Lone Star. The governor launched the state border security initiative in March 2021 and ultimately deployed thousands of National Guard and state trooper personnel to the border. In his letter, Abbott included a full cost breakdown for the manpower, along with the border wall and buoy infrastructure propped up by Texas and the costs of prosecuting detained migrants’ cases.

“This success came at a cost, which fell squarely on the shoulders of Texas taxpayers but should have been the federal government’s responsibility,” Abbott wrote.

From there, Cornyn and the state’s Republican delegation in the U.S. House advocated for reimbursement, including in a legislative strategy session with Abbott at the U.S. Capitol. Cornyn and other Texas Republicans spearheaded legislation to repay Texas and publicly urged federal agencies to prioritize Texas in disbursing the funds after the money was approved.

Cornyn said the latest information about the fund came from Abbott, who relayed details from his talks with Mullin. When asked why it was taking so long to dole out the money, Cornyn said his impression was that “the president’s got to make this happen.”

“Like everything else to the Trump White House, he’s the one who will say yea or nay,” Cornyn said. “And I presume that hasn’t happened yet.”

Spokespersons for DHS and Abbott did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Cornyn, who has represented Texas in the upper chamber since 2002, lost a primary runoff to Attorney General Ken Paxton in May, making this the final year of his Senate career. Since his loss, he’s shown a willingness to use his vote as leverage on issues he cares about, including protecting a federal program to fight AIDS globally and formally eliminating a controversial DOJ settlement fund that could have been used to pay out defendants charged in relation to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The senior senator said he still has the power of his vote, and that he is willing to use it to “make sure that Texas gets what it deserves.”

When asked if he had spoken to Trump about the border reimbursement money, Cornyn said he was relying on Abbott to have those conversations. Trump endorsed Paxton in May after over a year of both campaigns — and their allies — jockeying for his endorsement.

“I don’t think I’m the best messenger at this point in my relationship with the president,” Cornyn said.