Senate moves toward deal to fund DHS
GOP House leaders aren't excited about the plan, which would split off immigration measures.
WASHINGTON - The Senate moved closer Tuesday to a deal to avert a partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security, but the proposal faced an uncertain future in the House, where Republican leaders conspicuously refused to embrace it.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) told reporters he was prepared to move swiftly on a bill to extend funding for DHS through the fiscal year that is not contingent on Republican demands to repeal President Obama's executive actions on immigration.
Under McConnell's proposal, the Senate would vote first on the funding measure and then hold a separate vote on a bill to undo Obama's new immigration initiatives. McConnell hopes to assuage conservatives who are determined to confront the president on what they see as abuse of his executive authority.
"I don't know what's not to like about this," McConnell said. "This is an approach that respects both points of view." If successful, the proposal would break a two-month deadlock over funding for the agency that is responsible for border security, airport security checks and a range of other functions.
But House Speaker John A. Boehner (R., Ohio) did not immediately warm to the proposal and it was not clear whether he could marshal enough backing in his chamber to complete the deal to keep DHS open beyond Friday, when its spending authority expires.
House Republicans were to huddle behind closed doors Wednesday morning. The unsettled DHS debate was expected to be the central focus of their discussion.
The stalemate between Republicans in the House and the Senate has tested the new Republican majority's ability to govern. Senate Democrats have blocked four attempts by McConnell to move forward on a House bill that would fund the department, but which ties that funding to repeal of the president's immigration orders, which allow millions of undocumented immigrants temporary reprieve from deportation.
McConnell's move represented a concession in a fight that has threatened what would be a second partial government shutdown in less than two years. In October 2013, a broad swath of the federal government was shuttered for more than two weeks over a fierce budget fight between Republicans and Democrats.
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) said Democrats want assurances from Boehner that a "clean" funding bill will pass the House before they would support McConnell's plan and allow the votes to move forward.
Asked about the emerging Senate plan, Boehner spokesman Michael Steel said in an e-mail: "The Speaker has been clear: the House has acted, and now Senate Democrats need to stop hiding. Will they continue to block funding for the Department of Homeland Security or not?"
Exiting a House leadership meeting later on, House Rules Committee Chairman Pete Sessions (R., Texas) said he did not support approving McConnell's plan. Instead, Sessions said Congress should pass a temporary extension of funding for up to six weeks and convene a House-Senate conference to try to hammer out the differences between the two chambers.