Democrats on Tuesday blocked the advancement of a $40 billion Department of Homeland Security funding measure that would have curbed President Obama’s recent moves to help illegal immigrants work and secure benefits in the United States.
The bill was defeated mostly along party lines by a vote of 51-48, falling nine votes shy of the 60 needed to block a filibuster. All Democrats voted against the measure. Sen. Dean Heller, of Nevada, was the sole Republican “no” vote.
While lawmakers expected the bill to fail, its defeat set the clock ticking on a “Plan B’ to fund DHS, which is operating on a stopgap measure that expires Feb. 27.
Republicans said they have been discussing what to do next, but they have not settled on a proposal or whether a new measure would have to be considered first in the House, where spending bills usually originate.
Republicans had pledged to use congressional authority over spending matters as a mechanism to stop Obama, who they accuse of using executive actions in a way that supersedes his legal power.
The spending bill would defund Obama’s 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA), an executive action that allows people who arrived in the United States illegally as children to obtain work permits and avoid deportation. It also would curb a November directive allowing more than 5 million more illegal immigrants to obtain work permits and become eligible for some federal benefits.
Senate Republicans used political pressure to try to coerce Democrats to vote for the bill, citing Obama’s series of executive actions in his efforts to circumvent Congress.
“The choices Democrats make on the legislation before us will say a lot about whether there are still two serious political parties in our country,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. “Or, whether there are two parties interested in governing within a constitutional framework. At its core, the bill is about whether Democrats think either party should have the power to do what they want.”
But Democrats, despite being in the Senate minority for the first time in eight years, had the political upper hand.
Democrats know that the GOP is eager to avoid a funding fight thanks to past attempts that have backfired on Republicans and led to falling poll numbers.
Even though Democrats defeated the bill, they moved to portray Republicans as reckless and on a path to weaken the nation’s security for DHS, which includes airport screening and border security.
“The Senate, led by Republicans, are doing everything in their power to make sure Homeland Security is held hostage to matters that don’t relate to homeland security,” Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., argued on the Senate floor before the vote.
The top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee said she couldn’t vote for a bill that ultimately would be vetoed by Obama and would thus exclude pay for DHS workers.
“We need them,” said Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md.. “We need them in cybersecurity, we need them in searching out the lone wolf attacks. Weren’t we proud of the brilliant job our Homeland Security leadership provided to protect all of the people who so enjoyed the Super Bowl?”
