House GOP cave, pass DHS funding with amnesty for illegals
The House passed a bill Tuesday afternoon to fund the Department of Homeland Security for the rest of the fiscal year, sending it to President Obama for his expected signature. The measure will not target Obama’s executive actions on immigration, giving Democrats another victory despite the GOP controlling both chambers of Congress.
Democrats were joined by many Republicans as the vote was 257-167 on the “clean” Senate bill initiated by Republican leader Mitch McConnell.
“As you’ve heard me say a number of times, the House has done its job by passing legislation to fund DHS and block the president’s executive actions on immigration,” Speaker John Boehner of Ohio told Republicans in a Tuesday morning meeting, according to a Washington Post report. “Unfortunately, the fight was never won in the other chamber.”
Boehner and House Republicans failed again as DHS funding passes photo donkeyhotey donkeyhotey.wordpress.com
Senate democrats stood united against the plan and McConnell rolled out a compromise passed easily after the seven day delay.
“Maybe I should be more angry, but I’m not. I’m just sort of resigned to the fact this is exactly where I knew we would be,” Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.), who opposed the bill, told reporters ahead of the vote. “I think anybody who follows Washington knew this is exactly where we were going to be.”
“The vote marked a big win for Democrats,” notes the Post while NPR’s Ron Elving writes that Democratic and GOP lawmakers “no longer worry about pleasing anyone other than primary voters. If the primary voter goes with the incumbent, the incumbent is almost certain to go back to Washington.”
Sen. Charles E. Schumer (N.Y.), the third-ranking Senate Democrat, said he was “pleased” House Republicans cleared the way for the DHS bill to pass but added that he feared future showdowns fueled by House conservatives would seriously imperil the future work of Congress. “I also shudder for the future of this Congress,” he said.
