The Senate Thursday began debate on a Department of Homeland Security funding bill that excludes restrictions on President Barack Obama’s executive actions on immigration while House Republicans pondered what to do about the bill as DHS faces a partial shutdown this weekend.
With Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., agreeing on a deal for a vote on a so-called ‘clean’ DHS bill, attention Thursday turned to the House of Representatives where Republicans are at odds over how to handle funding the department.
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, offered no clues Thursday morning on what he intends to do. Boehner has a tough needle to thread: to satisfy conservative members of his caucus who insist on immigration language in the bill for leverage against Obama’s actions and not delay funding for DHS, which has agencies that protect the nation’s air travelers, coastline, borders, and government leaders.
At his weekly news conference, Boehner blamed congressional Democrats and Obama’s immigration policies for the potential shutdown.
‘It is not a fight amongst Republicans,’ Boehner said. ‘All Republicans agree that we want to fund the Department of Homeland Security and we want to stop the president’s executive actions with regard to immigration.’
While there are several Republicans, such as Rep. Peter King of New York and Pat Meehan of Pennsylvania, who say they’re prepared to vote for a DHS funding bill minus the immigration riders, there are many conservative and tea party-supported Republicans who want Boehner to hold the line and take a stand against Obama’s executive actions.
‘So we are waiting to see what the Senate can or can’t do,’ Boehner said. ‘And then we’ll make decisions about how we are going to proceed.’
Under McConnell’s deal, the Senate will hold a vote on DHS funding and a separate vote on a measure that would halt Obama’s 2014 executive action to defer the deportation of millions of immigrants living in the country illegally.
Noting the differences between the House and the Senate, Boehner said
McConnell ‘has his challenges and I have mine.’
‘And we have two different institutions that don’t have the same body temperature every day,’ Boehner said. ‘The House, by nature and by design, is a hell of a lot more rambunctious place than the Senate – much more.’
If Congress fails to act by Friday’s close, some 30,000 DHS employees would be furloughed. The department would continue to function, though, with workers who wouldn’t receive paychecks during a shutdown.
If the Senate passes a DHS bill that doesn’t address Obama’s immigration moves, some House Republicans have suggested that the chamber take the Senate bill, add immigration language, and send it back to the upper chamber.
Others have suggested holding a conference committee to resolve differences between the House and Senate DHS legislation. Those differences wouldn’t be resolved before Friday, when DHS runs out of money.
‘We’ve had all kinds of rumors that the House is going to take our fully-funded bill and send it back with a number of riders on it,’ Reid told reporters Thursday. ‘It is a waste of time. We will not allow a conference to take place.’