The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Leaders reach deal to avoid shutdown
Fate of Homeland Security funding uncertain in House.
Senate Democrats on Wednesday signed onto a Republican agreement to fund the Homeland Security Department without the immigration provisions opposed by President Barack Obama. The announcement put the Senate on track to quickly pass the bill,
WASHINGTON — Three days before the deadline for a partial Homeland Security shutdown, lawmakers cleared the way Wednesday for Senate passage of legislation to fund the agency without immigration-related provisions opposed by President Barack Obama.
Approval in the Senate would send the issue to the House, where some conservatives derided the plan as a surrender to the White House. Other Republicans predicted it would clear, but House Speaker John Boehner, ROhio, declined to say if he would put it to a vote.
“I’m waiting for the Senate to act. The House has done their job,” he said at a news conference where he sidestepped questions about his plans.
Increasingly, though, it appeared the only alternative to House acceptance of the Senate mea- sure — or perhaps a shortterm funding bill — was the partial shutdown of a federal department with major anti-terrorism responsibilities, risking that the GOP would suffer whatever political blame resulted.
The developments in Congress unfolded as Obama met at the White House with immigration activists before departing for a speech in Florida, where more than 23 percent of the population is of Hispanic descent. One person attending the meeting, Frank Sharry, head of immigration reform group America’s Voice, quoted Obama as saying Republicans were engaging in “kabuki” to appease conservatives who oppose his directive to allow more than 4 million immigrants in the country illegally to avoid deportation.
Later, at Florida International University, Obama predicted his administration would win a victory at the appeals court in its bid to overturn a ruling that has blocked his immigration policies from taking effect. “If we don’t, we’ll take it up from there,” he said, apparently referring to an appeal to the Supreme Court.
The president had already arrived in Miami aboard Air Force One when the Senate took the first of several votes that could be required to pass the standalone spending bill. The tally was 98-2, with only Republican Sens. James Inhofe of Oklahoma and Jeff Sessions of Alabama dissenting, reflecting a bipartisan sentiment that it was time to bring the current episode to a close.
The Homeland Security funding legislation has been at the core of a politically charged struggle for weeks in the Senate. Democrats have repeatedly blocked action on the measure, objecting to its inclusion of the Housepassed immigration provisions that the White House opposed.
With the threatened partial shutdown approaching, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., retreated Tuesday, offering votes on two bills. One would provide DHS funding while the other would be on the repeal Obama’s immigration directives.
Democrats had said they wouldn’t agree unless Boehner signed on to the deal, but after a closed-door meeting, the party’s leader, Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, gave his consent.
“It’s an important step to be able to send to the House of Representatives a bill that funds the Department of Homeland Security,” Reid said.
The precise timing of the bill’s passage appeared to depend in large measure on the response of some of the Republican Party’s most dedicated opponents of easing immigration laws.
Among them, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, a potential presidential contender in 2016, said he saw nothing to be gained from delaying the bill’s inevitable passage by a day or so.
Across the Capitol, House Republicans met privately to discuss the Senate measure as Boehner marked time, and lawmakers were told to be prepared to spend the weekend in the Capitol to resolve the issue.