Budget fight may hinder Homeland Security work

Immigration impasse over bill could lead to federal furloughs.

WASHINGTON — Congress returns to work today with only four days left to pass a Department of Homeland Security funding bill and avert a partial agency shutdown and the furlough of about 30,000 federal employees.

Most of the department’s employees would be deemed “essential” and kept working even if Congress and President Barack Obama don’t agree in time, and the nation’s airports, borders and political leaders would continue to be protected. But even those who work would be unsure of their paychecks until Congress finds a way to fund the agency beyond Friday, when its budget authorization ends.

The operative word on Capitol Hill is “stuck.” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has been unable to move a bill that would provide the department with $40 billion through September because of a Democratic filibuster over a clause added in the House that would reverse some of Obama’s executive actions on immigration.

House Speaker John Boehner isn’t budging on his demand that McConnell’s Senate act on the bill, which has already received House approval, and not look to his chamber for help.

“The House has done its job under the Constitution,” Boehner said. “It’s time for the Senate to do their job.”

Democrats and a few Republicans in both chambers are pressing for a “clean” bill, without the immigration-related amendments, arguing that not funding the department when the Islamic State and other groups are committing terrorist acts worldwide would be political suicide.

The White House will try to keep the heat on Congress when Obama hosts a nationally televised town hall meeting on immigration Wednesday in Miami.

Some lawmakers, such as Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., think a federal judge in Texas threw Congress a lifeline last week when he issued an injunction blocking Obama’s actions to shield from deportation more than 4 million immigrants who live in the United States illegally.

“It’s not a good idea ... to shut down the Department of Homeland Security,” McCain said Thursday on MSNBC. “And now we’ve got a perfect reason to not shut it down because the courts have decided, at least initially, in our favor.”

But instead of softening the debate, U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen’s ruling appears to have hardened both sides.

“Senate Democrats — especially those who’ve voiced opposition to the president’s ex- ecutive overreach — should end their partisan filibuster of Department of Homeland Security funding,” McConnell said after Hanen’s decision.

Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid said Democrats’ offer to first fund Homeland Security and then debate immigration stands.

“All Republicans have to do is say yes,” he said.

Outside groups are pressuring Democrats to hold the line.

“What we want is for Congress to pass a clean DHS bill and for the parties to come together to pass a comprehensive immigration bill,” said Hector Sanchez, chairman of the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda.

But Kevin Broughton, communications director for the Tea Party Patriots, said it is time for Republicans to make good on campaign vows to address Obama’s executive actions.

“The point is that Republicans last fall went hard against executive amnesty. ... Now is not the time to lose your nerve,” he said.

With the fate of the funding bill uncertain, the agency is preparing for a possible partial shutdown. DHS officials said 30,000 employees — about 15 percent of its workforce — might be furloughed. Sen. John McCain R-Ariz.