Republicans Perpetuating Republican Manufactured Homeland Security Crisis
- National Journal– With Shutdown Looming, Boehner and McConnell Haven't Talked
House Speaker John Boehner told a closed-door meeting of House Republicans on Wednesday that he and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell haven't spoken in two weeks, even as the two men have pursued clashing strategies ahead of a possible Homeland Security Department shutdown…McConnell spokesman Mike Brumas said his boss and Boehner had not met since before last week's recess…
- Talking Points Memo – GOP Congress In Disarray Two Days Before Partial Government Shutdown
Despite a glimmer of hope on Tuesday, Congress fell right back into a stalemate with just two days to go before the Department of Homeland Security runs out of funding...The chances of a partial government shutdown on Friday at midnight grew as the Republican-led House and Senate remained divided on the way forward…Boehner ducked five questions about the McConnell plan, saying the House won't decide what to do until the Senate acts. (He also refused to answer questions about whether embracing McConnell's plan would endanger his tenuous hold on the speakership, as some House conservatives have suggested to reporters.)
- Associated Press – DHS bill exposes holes in GOP's congressional coordination
In the heady days after winning control of both congressional chambers, Republican leaders vowed to keep the government funded and to block President Barack Obama from overhauling immigration policies on his own. But House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell never crafted a plan to do both. And as events turned against them Tuesday, McConnell said he didn't know how Boehner would handle a political dilemma heading his way.
- Huffington Post – GOP Faces Internal Battle as DHS Shutdown Nears
Speaker of the House John Boehner is facing internal GOP pressure to stick to his guns in the fight against Obama's immigration policy, jeopardizing the success of the bill Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell proposed that would prevent a shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security. According to HuffPost's latest polling, more Americans care about funding the DHS than "rolling back" President Obama's immigration action.
- POLITICO – GOP lawmakers clash over shutdown
A tense debate broke out during a closed-door meeting of Senate Republicans on Tuesday, a sign of the serious hurdles GOP leaders face ahead of a critical funding deadline for the nation's chief domestic anti-terrorism agency. According to four senators at the lunch session, a frustrated Sen. Jeff Sessions angrily dismissed Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's plan…But Sen. Kelly Ayotte…sharply countered that McConnell's plan was the only option to not hamper law enforcement agencies that rely on money from the Department of Homeland Security. The dispute between the vulnerable Republican and the Alabama conservative highlights the larger challenges facing McConnell and House Speaker John Boehner.
- The Hill– Right turns fire on McConnell
Conservative hardliners laid into Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) Tuesday night for what they view as capitulating to Democrats on immigration…Members of the GOP right said McConnell's move essentially amounted to giving in to Democrats' refusal to consider legislation undoing the president's immigration actions. Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-Kan.) said he "absolutely" won't vote for a DHS funding bill that allows the November actions to go forward…Huelskamp said that separating the bill freezing the executive actions from a must-pass DHS funding bill eliminates Republicans' leverage over Democrats.
- Associated Press– Pressure centers on House GOP on Homeland Security bill
Days ahead of a looming partial agency shutdown, the pressure is on House Republicans…Early reviews from House conservatives were negative ahead of a closed-door caucus meeting set for Wednesday morning…Several insisted they could not accept the two-part strategy proposed by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell…The approach "is tantamount to surrender, and won't meet with support in the people's House," said Rep. Matt Salmon, R-Ariz. "I will fight against any funding bill that does not fully defund the president's illegal actions."
- International Business Times – DHS, Immigration Fight 2015: Homeland Security Shutdown? It's Up To Speaker Boehner
With only three days remaining before the Department of Homeland Security funding runs out, a complicated procedural deal has emerged that could avert a DHS shutdown – if Speaker John Boehner is willing to get on board…Boehner has so far refused to bring a "clean" DHS funding bill – one that doesn't also include immigration rollbacks -- to the floor.