DHS Funding Next on Senate Agenda, Says McConnell
The next big piece of legislation on the Senate agenda is House-passed Department of Homeland Security appropriations, said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., in a press conference on Jan. 29, after the chamber passed a bill to authorize the Keystone pipeline on the same day. McConnell reiterated that plan in a statement on Jan. 30. The House legislation, HR-240 (here), includes policy riders that would prevent implementation of President Barack Obama's November executive action on immigration, and Obama has vowed to veto it (see 1501130008">1501130008). CBP appropriations are not part of the DHS funding dispute, but the agency is likely to feel an impact if funding lapses (see 13093028).
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The Senate will first take up a veterans bill, and then move on to the DHS bill, said McConnell in the emailed statement. “The House-passed bill we’ll consider would do two things: fund the Department of Homeland Security, and rein-in executive overreach," the statement said. “That’s it. It’s simple. And there’s no reason for Democrats to block it.”
Meanwhile, two Senate Democrats introduced DHS funding legislation on Jan. 28 that omits the House immigration riders (see 1501290033">1501290033). The entire Senate Democratic caucus also urged McConnell this week to pass a "clean" bill (see 1501270060">1501270060).
A group of former DHS secretaries also pushed McConnell to address immigration policy separately, citing severe security threats that DHS needs to handle and the risk of a funding lapse (here). Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., praised the call from Tom Ridge, Michael Chertoff and Janet Napolitano. "Senate Democrats have called on Senator McConnell to quit listening to the most extreme members of his caucus and pass a clean bill to fund Homeland Security," said Reid. "Now three widely respected Homeland Security Secretaries are calling for this clean bill as well."
The top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., railed against the Republican attempt to tie immigration policy to DHS funding. "Leave Homeland Security alone," she told other senators on Jan. 29. "Pass the money bill. If you disagree with the money, argue over that. But if you want to fight over immigration policy, that’s another debate for another day in another way."