House Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio responds to reporters questions about the problems in passing the Homeland Security budget. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)
House Republicans are hoping to pass a stopgap funding bill Friday that would avert a partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security at midnight, as the Senate passed its own bill that would fund the agency through September.
The House GOP plan, which leaders pitched to rank-and-file Republicans in a closed-door meeting Thursday, is the first sign Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) is willing to pass a new bill after passing another one weeks ago that takes aim at President Obama’s executive actions on immigration and has been blocked in the Senate.
The new measure would fund DHS for three more weeks. If approved, it would continue a standoff between the House and the Senate over longer-term agency funding. The Senate bill to fund DHS through September that would not touch Obama’s immigration directives passed on a 68-31 vote Friday morning.
[DHS shutdown threat dimming as House GOP proposes stopgap plan]
Up against a looming deadline, Boehner’s plan could win support from lawmakers in both parties and both chambers. Democratic resistance has complicated its path, but House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) conceded Friday morning that “Republicans probably have the votes” to pass the bill to keep the department open through March 20.
But she called the measure a “staggering failure of leadership that will prolong this manufactured crisis of theirs and endanger the security of the American people.”
Pelosi said that should the short term measure pass, Democrats would oppose negotiating a compromise bill with the Senate, saying there was nothing to compromise on. Her comments echoed the position of Senate Democratic leaders.
Pelosi’s remarks came after House Democratic leaders huddled with rank-and-file members. Leaving the meeting, some expressed sharp opposition to the measure.
“This is a gimmick. This is a waste of time,” said Rep. Nita M. Lowey (N.Y.), the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee. “We need a one-year bill and that’s it.”
Rep. Gene Green, a moderate Texas Democrat, said he’s a no “right now.”
Senate Democratic aides acknowledged that the bill would probably pass their chamber if it clears the House.
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) put forward the Senate bill that passed Friday morning after it became clear the longer term House bill would not advance in his chamber. McConnell’s strategy has been panned by some House conservatives bent on battling Obama on immigration.
As they left Thursday’s House GOP meeting, Republican members said their leadership presented its plan as a way to allow time for the House and Senate to try to go to conference on their competing bills, even as Senate Democratic leaders have rejected the idea of a conference committee.
Rep. Walter B. Jones (R-N.C.), a foe of Boehner, said that he would not support the plan but that of those who spoke, a “majority, probably, are inclined to support it.”
Rep. Richard B. Nugent (R-Fla.), who has also clashed with Boehner, said he would support the proposal.
“I think the speaker has laid out a plan. Obviously, he can’t control what the Senate does,” Nugent said.
[Obama staying out of the GOP crossfire in shutdown fight]
McConnell tried to move forward Friday morning to consideration of a standalone measure that would undo Obama’s 2014 actions, including stemming the deportations of millions of undocumented immigrants, but was blocked by Democrats. That bill is an effort to assuage conservatives in both chambers.
“Remember: President Obama said more than 20 times he couldn’t take those kinds of actions. He even referred to overreach like that as ‘ignoring the law,’ ” McConnell said on the Senate floor.
Senate Democratic leaders say they want to see DHS fully funded before they clear the way for consideration on the immigration bill.
Democrats have pointed to dangers the United States is confronting as the DHS debate is unfolding. They have cited the threat of the Islamic State, the mass shooting at a French satirical newspaper and concerns about disaster preparedness as reasons why Congress should not delay passage of “clean” bill that funds DHS through September.
At least one member has said he would forgo pay during a DHS shutdown, in solidarity with nonessential employees facing the prospect of a furlough.
“As long as the employees of the Department of Homeland Security including Border Patrol, Coast Guard and TSA are working while not receiving paychecks, I will ask that my paycheck be withheld,” Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) said in a Thursday statement.
Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-Kan.), a conservative critic of GOP leadership, said Thursday that Boehner is handling the DHS fight “as best as can be expected.” But in a sign of lingering House-Senate tension, Huelskamp lashed out at McConnell.
“Harry Reid’s still in charge. There are going to be millions of folks that helped change the Senate from Democrat to Republican [who] are going to be disappointed in Senator McConnell,” he said.
Paul Kane contributed to this story.
Sean Sullivan has covered national politics for The Washington Post since 2012.
Mike DeBonis covers Congress and national politics for The Washington Post. He previously covered D.C. politics and government from 2007 to 2015.
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