Under spending deal struck in December, DHS funding is set to run out on Friday, leaving the majority of agency employees at risk of not receiving paychecks

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

Declaring “we’re in a wait-and-see mode”, House speaker John Boehner said on Wednesday he had no plans to call a vote to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) beyond a Friday night deadline, bringing the prospect of a partial shutdown a step closer.

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In an appearance following a meeting of House Republicans, Boehner repeatedly demanded that the Senate vote on legislation passed by the House earlier this month, which would fund homeland security but block Barack Obama’s executive actions on immigration.

“I’m waiting for the Senate to pass a bill,” Boehner said. “I don’t know what the Senate is capable of. I’m waiting for the Senate to act. It’s time for the Senate to do their job.”

Under a spending deal struck in mid-December, DHS funding is set to run out at midnight on Friday. The rest of the government is funded through the end of the fiscal year on 30 September.

Democrats in the Senate have blocked repeated attempts by the majority leader, Mitch McConnell, to bring a vote on the House bill, prompting McConnell to announce a shift in strategy that could provide a path toward funding Homeland Security while allowing Republicans to vote against the president’s immigration policy.

McConnell said on Tuesday that he would bring a bill to the floor to fully fund the DHS. He said he would also call a vote on a second bill to reverse the president’s executive actions on immigration – legislation inviting a presidential veto, should it pass both chambers of Congress.

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

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On Wednesday, Senate Democrats offered to support McConnell’s new proposal, despite some hesitancy when it was first announced.

“We hope that we can do this tomorrow,” minority leader Harry Reid told reporters on Capitol Hill. “We are going to do everything we can to make sure that it passes in time: this is no time for games.”

McConnell may need Democrat help to speed the funding legislation to the Senate floor amid continued grumbling on the right of his party.

Such a pattern is expected to be repeated in the House if, as expected, Boehner eventually climbs down and permits a vote on a “clean” funding bill later this week.

But if Boehner saw a chance for the McConnell strategy gaining support in the House, he gave no sign of it on Wednesday. Boehner told his caucus he had not spoken to McConnell in two weeks, according to a report from inside the meeting. But staff members for the two legislators had been in contact, Boehner said.

“Senator McConnell has a big job to do,” said Boehner. “In the end the Senate has to act.”

Late last year the president announced an expansion of the pool of undocumented migrants eligible for deferred action on deportations. The actions extended protections from deportations to about 4 million people.

House Republicans had signalled their opposition to McConnell’s plan in advance of Wednesday’s caucus meeting. The approach “is tantamount to surrender, and won’t meet with support in the people’s House”, said representative Matt Salmon of Arizona. “I will fight against any funding bill that does not fully defund the president’s illegal actions.”

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Boehner said the House had “done its job to fund the Department of Homeland Security and to stop the president’s overreach” on immigration.

A DHS shutdown would leave the majority of agency employees, including Transportation Security Administration agents and most Border Patrol agents, at their posts as designated essential staff. But if the shutdown ground on they would not receive bi-weekly paychecks.

Pressure on Republicans to ensure DHS does not partially shut down grew at the weekend, with the release by the Somalia-based al-Shabaab terrorist group of a video threatening attacks on American malls.

Obama was scheduled to participate on Wednesday afternoon in an immigration town hall in Miami, hosted by Telemundo and MSNBC at Florida International University.