Homeland funding in limbo as GOP leaders diverge

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., left, and Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio.(Photo: J. Scott Applewhite, AP)WASHINGTON — The Senate moved toward resolving an impasse over funding for the Department of Homeland Security after leaders agreed to begin debate on the annual $40 billion funding measure with no strings attached.The Senate voted 98-2 to begin debate on the bill after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., agreed to bring it to the floor without House-passed riders that sought to repeal President Obama's executive orders on immigration.Senate Republicans failed on four previous attempts to overcome a Democratic filibuster to bring up the bill with the GOP immigration provisions attached.Facing a Friday deadline for when the current stopgap DHS funding measure runs out, McConnell advanced the measure despite opposition from conservatives and no assurances that House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, would bring it up for a vote."Until the Senate does something, we're in wait-and-see mode," Boehner told reporters following a private House GOP meeting Wednesday morning.Boehner has declined to weigh in on McConnell's plan to approve the DHS funding bill and then vote separately on a bill by Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, to effectively block Obama's executive orders to delay deportation for millions of undocumented immigrants. The Collins bill is unlikely to overcome a Democratic filibuster, but it would put senators on record on the issue.Since Republicans won full control of Congress in the midterm elections, McConnell has repeatedly vowed that there would be no more government shutdowns on his watch.Boehner has been less adamant about a shutdown — a nod to the pressures he faces from conservatives in his party who believe the party should fight at all costs to block Obama's immigration actions. "Sen. McConnell has a big job to do, and so do I," Boehner said. He told his colleagues that he has not spoken to his Senate counterpart in two weeks, underscoring that he was not part of McConnell's decision to advance a "clean" bill.House Democrats said they are poised to help advance the bill if Boehner will override his party's immigration hardliners to reach a compromise. Every House Democrat has said they would support the DHS funding bill, and Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., said enough Republicans have indicated they could support it to get it passed despite significant conservative opposition."This is a cop-out by the speaker, because all the speaker has to do is indicate that he's prepared to put aside the gamesmanship and vote for a clean funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security," Van Hollen told CNN.McConnell's compromise is opposed by House conservatives who see it as capitulating to the Obama administration. "The Senate majority leader's plan to divorce the funding bill from the unlawful actions it is restricting is tantamount to surrender, and won't meet with support in the people's House," said Rep. Matt Salmon, R-Ariz.Republicans largely view Obama's actions as an overreach of executive authority. Lawmakers were buoyed by a recent Texas court ruling that blocked the president's order upon further legal review. However, other conservatives see the ruling as reason to keep up the fight on the DHS funding bill.Without an agreement or stopgap funding bill in place by Friday, the department faces a partial shutdown. The vast majority of DHS employees are considered "essential" and must report to work during a shutdown, but they will not receive paychecks.Lawmakers said the impasse was likely to spill into the weekend. "We may have some late nights and early mornings this week," said Rep. John Carter, R-Texas.Will ice, snow shut down the South...again?Feb 25, 2015