Security showdown looms as Democrats defend Obama on immigration
By David Lawder and Susan Cornwell WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Democrats on Tuesday sank Republicans' plans to block President Barack Obama's immigration action through a Department of Homeland Security funding bill, setting up a month-end showdown that could put the agency at risk. The DHS bill failed to get the 60 Senate votes needed to move past a procedural hurdle, forcing Republicans to regroup to consider how to fund the agency while meeting demands from conservatives to press the fight against Obama on immigration. Obama and Senate Democrats are demanding a "clean" DHS funding bill that strips out the immigration restrictions passed by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives last month. Current spending authority for the DHS, which spearheads domestic counterterrorism efforts and secures U.S. borders, airports and coastal waters, will expire on Feb. 27. Fifty-one Republicans voted in favor of the plan, and 48 voted against. Republican Dean Heller of Nevada joined Democrats in blocking the plan, while Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell switched his vote to "no" at the last minute in a procedural maneuver to keep the bill alive for further votes. "We’ll wind up passing a clean bill," said Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid. "Why do we wait, why do we agonize?" Earlier, House Speaker John Boehner declined to say how Republicans would proceed if the plan stalled in the Senate. "The goal here is not to run DHS out of money. The goal is to stop the president's overreach," Boehner told a news briefing. Republicans were divided on their response. Some, including Representative John Carter of Texas, who chairs the House Appropriations Homeland Security subcommittee, said they would prefer a "clean" DHS bill to leaving the agency short of funds. But conservative Raul Labrador of Idaho said it was important to continue the fight against Obama on immigration, even if it means a lapse in DHS funds. He said Obama would take the blame, not Republicans. "If the president's willing to do that, that would be on the president," Labrador said. While much of DHS' security functions have been deemed essential and will continue to operate if funding lapses, the agency has said it would be forced to furlough about 30,000 employees, or 15 percent of its total. (Additional reporting by Julia Edwards; Editing by John Whitesides and James Dalgleish)
