Mitch McConnell ‘sells out’ and leads Senate GOP ‘compromise’ on DHS funding

While House Republicans pushed a way to defund President Obama’s Executive Order on immigration, Senate Republicans appear to be finding way to avoid a shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as Mitch McConnell leads a new proposed bill to fund the agency which does not void President Barack Obama’s executive actions on immigration.

The new proposal would split the current bill being considered by the Senate in two. Lawmakers would vote on a “clean” DHS funding bill, with no provisions to block the president’s recent actions eliminating the threat of deportation for millions of undocumented immigrants. Attempts to block the immigration moves would be handled in a separate vote.

Mitch McConnell photo/ donkeyhotey

Introduced Tuesday by Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), the compromise measure attempts to advance a bill previously passed by the GOP-led House of Representatives without the language that had caused a Democrat filibuster.

Obama has said he would veto any bill undoing his executive actions. Funding for DHS expires Friday night, giving lawmakers only a few days to resolve their issues.

McConnell said he has discussed splitting the bill in two with Sen. Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), though it’s unclear just how much support his idea has.

“I don’t know what’s not to like about this,” McConnell told reporters, as quoted by the Huffington Post. “This is an approach that respects both points of view and gives senators an opportunity to go on record on both funding the Department of Homeland Security and expressing their opposition to what the president did last November.”

The headlines are already targeting the GOP’s compromise, quoting conservatives groups like the Heritage Action, which warned that putting Democrats on record on Obama’s immigration move is “no substitute” for keeping the GOP’s leverage in the fight.

“As the Majority Leader said last year, the power of the purse is the ‘only tool’ Congress has to rein in executive overreach,” Heritage Action Communications Director Dan Holler said. “As such, Heritage Action will key vote against any DHS bill that would allow for the funding of the President’s unconstitutional amnesty.”

Salon refers to it as “surrender” with a McConnell spin, quoting the Kentucky Senator.

“Some Democrats give the impression they want Congress to address the overreach,” McConnell said on the Senate floor. “But when they vote, they always seem to have an excuse for supporting actions they once criticized. So I’m going to begin proceedings on targeted legislation that would only address the most recent overreach from November. It isn’t tied to DHS funding. It removes their excuse.”

Obama supporters are quick to point out that the Republicans have never pushed through viable immigration reform.

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