DHS funding bill clears the Senate as lawmakers work to avert shutdown
Hours before the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is slated to shut down, the Senate Friday morning approved a bill to fund the agency through the end of September. The bill passed by a vote of 68 to 31.
It's unclear, however, how the full Congress will work out its differences to keep the agency running. The Senate bill does not include language to roll back President Obama's executive actions on immigration, as Republicans had hoped for, so the negotiations continue.
Aiming to keep the issue of immigration on the table, the GOP-led House is working on a bill to extend DHS funding for three weeks.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-California, slammed the short-term funding bill on Friday morning.
"Republicans have a plan that is a staggering failure of leadership that will prolong this manufactured crisis of theirs... and danger the security of the American people," she said.
Given the House Democrats' opposition to the plan, Republicans would have to keep their caucus united to pass the three-week DHS spending bill.
The House will also vote this afternoon on a motion to take the Senate version of the bill to conference, meaning the two chambers would have to negotiate a compromise over the legislation.
Effectively, the House is trying to compel the Senate to agree to its three-week extension while negotiations drag on. It appears the Senate is ready to go along with that. Asked Thursday night whether the GOP-led Senate would agree to the three-week extension, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, shook his head yes. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-New York, said Friday that Senate Democrats would "reluctantly" support the three-week extension.
"Obviously, we're not going to shut down the government," he said.
Meanwhile, DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson warned Congress in a letter Thursday night that a short-term funding extension would have "many of the same negative impacts" as a shutdown.
"A short-term continuing resolution exacerbates the uncertainty for my workforce and puts us back in the same position, on the brink of a shutdown just days from now," he wrote.
