Congress Braces For A Partial Government Shutdown Over Immigration
WASHINGTON — Lawmakers are anxiously bracing for a partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security at the end of the week, even as the Senate took steps to try to end the stalemate on Tuesday.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) announced an agreement to hold separate votes on a "clean" Homeland Security funding bill and on a bill to block President Barack Obama's immigration executive actions. De-linking the two issues is a reversal of course for McConnell after he failed repeatedly to break a Democratic filibuster on legislation that conditions DHS funding on stopping Obama's actions.
The tentative deal by the Senate leaders puts House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) in a jam between hard-line conservatives, who are demanding he hold firm against funding DHS cleanly, and the responsibility to keep Homeland Security funded.
"I don't know what the House will do," McConnell admitted. "But I do think we have a responsibility to act."
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