The Senate will try yet again Monday to block President Obama’s executive action giving a pass to 5 million illegal immigrants.
Democrats vow that for the fourth time they will block a bill funding the Department of Homeland Security that the House has passed, which also defunds Obama’s immigration maneuver.
If they succeed, it would leave Congress and its GOP majorities just four days to find a Plan B before the agency runs out of money on Feb. 27.
Some GOP strategists fear congressional Republicans lack a plan that can work.
Spending measures originate in the House, but House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, says his chamber, by passing its bill, has already done its work and it’s now up to the Senate to act.
“House Republicans,” one former top GOP aide told the Washington Examiner, “are dug in.”
Here are the Republicans’ three options.
1. Do nothing and keep trying to pin blame on the Democrats.
Democrats have repeatedly voted against advancing the $40 billion funding bill in the Senate, and they’ve prevented debate and amendments that could aid its passage.
Why it may not happen: If Congress does not act and Homeland Security runs out of money at the end of the week, the GOP is likely to be blamed, as it has been for past shutdowns. It takes two to tango, but public opinion has repeatedly taken the view that it takes only one party, the GOP, to cause a shutdown.
The department is responsible for national security programs such as airport screening and border security. A recent CNN/ORC poll found 53 percent of the public would blame the GOP if gridlock forces the department to close. Republican leaders have pledged to fund the department and avoid a shutdown.
2. Introduce new legislation. Republicans could draft a new spending bill or split it into two measures.
GOP lawmakers could remove some of the immigration language Democrats oppose and make it harder for them to filibuster. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, has introduced a compromise bill that would cut a provision blocking Obama’s 2012 executive action that shields from deportation children in the US illegally.
Why it may not happen: Republicans know it’s futile. Senate Democrats say they’ll only vote for legislation that is “clean” and excludes any provision blocking Obama’s immigration directives.
3. Pass a short-term funding bill.
Republican leaders want to avoid the political fallout of a shutdown, but some conservatives want to keep pressure on Democrats and not bail them out with a short-term bill. GOP leadership could make the case that a federal court decision in Texas last week buys them more time to curb the president’s executive actions through legislation.
The ruling temporarily blocks Obama from implementing a November 2014 directive that provides 5 million illegal immigrants access to work permits and federal benefits.
Why it may not happen: Republicans in both chambers say the Texas ruling bolsters support for defunding Obama’s executive actions in the Homeland Security spending bill. Republicans in both the House and Senate claim to have no plans to introduce new legislation, and say it is up to the Democrats to allow debate on the current bill in time to keep the department from running out of money.
Complicating matters, the Obama administration announced Friday that it is seeking an emergency appeal to allow the president’s immigration orders to go ahead despite the Texas ruling.
One Senate GOP leadership aide told the Examiner this: “The House passed a bill. The Senate is trying to pass a bill. There is no other scenario.”
