Security agency's funding bill OK'd

No immigration curbs in measure

Congress ended a showdown linking Homeland Security Department spending and immigration policy as House Speaker John Boehner defied hard-line Republicans and let the chamber vote to fund the agency through September.

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The House passed the measure 257-167 after the Ohio Republican capitulated to Democratic demands to take up a Senate-passed bill that doesn't reverse President Barack Obama's executive orders on immigration.

Voting for the measure were 75 Republicans and 182 Democrats. All of the no votes belonged to Republicans. Arkansas' four House members, Republicans Rick Crawford, French Hill, Steve Womack and Bruce Westerman, voted against the legislation.

The measure now will go to Obama for his signature.

Congress' duty is to "provide funding for government -- all of government," said Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, who supported funding the department.

The measure "is the only path forward to avoid a potentially devastating shutdown" of the Homeland Security Department, he said.

Rep. Matt Salmon, R-Ariz., maintained that lawmakers should continue to take a stand against Obama's immigration orders.

"If we're not going to fight now, when are we going to fight?" Salmon said.

The divide in the Republican Party was on full display on the House floor Tuesday. Conservatives argued that their leaders were violating the U.S. Constitution. Republican leaders' allies joined with Democrats to argue their conservative colleagues were threatening national security.

The department's spending authority was set to run out after Friday. Boehner wanted to avoid a repeat of last week, when Tea Party-aligned Republicans and House Democrats defeated a three-week funding extension.

"The White House has been urging the Congress for months now to do the right thing, and that is pass a full-year funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security that does not include any politically motivated riders," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said.

"We are pleased that congressional leaders in the House have apparently relented," he said.

Republicans had insisted that any funding measure also block Obama's November orders shielding about 5 million undocumented immigrants from deportation. The measure passed Tuesday is a so-called clean bill that drops that language.

Democrats oppose tying agency funding to immigration policy, and Obama said he would veto any reversal of his orders. Senate Democrats five times blocked proposals that included the immigration language.

Rep. Mick Mulvaney, R-S.C., blamed Senate Democrats for blocking a bill that would have included restrictions on Obama's actions.

"It is incumbent upon conservative Republicans in the Senate to change the rules," Mulvaney said.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, said in a statement that "for the sake of the country we must stop governing by crisis."

Boehner tried and failed to pass a three-week funding bill Friday to allow more time for negotiations. The measure was brought down by conservatives, with 52 Republicans voting against it as leaders tried to cajole their support.

Later that day, the House passed a one-week stopgap bill with Democratic support. Also on Friday, the Senate voted 68-31 to pass its version of the bill to fund the agency through September without the immigration language.

During Tuesday's debate, Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pa., co-chairman of a House group of moderates, called on his colleagues to end what he called a "corrosive pattern" that has included potential government shutdowns.

"Let's show the American people we are serious about homeland security and that we have the capacity to govern," he said.

The immigration issue has dominated a congressional calendar that Republican leaders -- in control of both chambers since January -- wanted to fill with debate over priorities including job creation, health care policy and business regulations.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., had said there would be no government standoffs like the 16-day partial shutdown in 2013.

Boehner told fellow Republicans during a private meeting that a partial shutdown of the Homeland Security Department wasn't an option and that another short-term spending bill was unlikely to pass, according to a legislative aide who was in the room.

The speaker said a lawsuit that has temporarily blocked the Obama administration from carrying out his immigration policy is the best chance for overturning it, said the aide, who sought anonymity to describe the meeting.

The House turned to a seldom-used rule that lets any member call for a floor vote on a bill when the House and Senate have passed conflicting versions. Although the majority party can block use of the rule, Republicans decided not to do so in this case.

Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, had warned last week that if Boehner were to bring a full-year funding bill without the immigration language to the floor, his speakership could be in jeopardy.

"I'd say the American people lost," King said Tuesday. "They lost a part of the Constitution to the extortion of Democrats."

Some Republicans opposed to Boehner have formed a group called the House Freedom Caucus. Members of the group seemed resigned to losing the fight over Homeland Security Department funding when they emerged from a morning meeting at the Capitol Hill Club with Boehner.

John Fleming, R-La., said the caucus didn't take Boehner's action personally and that members tried their best to move the party toward their position on the dispute. He said it will now be up to a federal court to stop Obama's immigration actions.

House Rules Committee Chairman Pete Sessions of Texas said he was "disappointed" to hear opinions that the decision to vote on a clean bill was a win for the country.

"A win for the country is when we agree to sit down at the table and resolve differences," said Sessions. "That's a win for the country."

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said Thursday that a partial shutdown of his agency would require 30,000 Homeland Security employees to be furloughed and 170,000 essential personnel to keep working without pay.

Information for this article was contributed by Heidi Przybyla, Kathleen Hunter, James Rowley and Angela Greiling Keane of Bloomberg News.

A Section on 03/04/2015

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