President Barack Obama signed a law on Wednesday, March 4 that will guarantee the funding of the Department of Homeland Security through the end of the fiscal year.
His signature puts to rest an impasse that went on for several weeks revolving largely around Republican efforts to block his executive orders on immigration.
“I want to thank members of Congress for getting us a bill that will ensure that we can continue to fund the extraordinary work of our men and women at the Department of Homeland Security,” the President said. “They keep us safe every single day and we want to make sure that they’ve got the resources and support they need to do the job.”
Obama’s approval follows that of the US House of Representatives, which passed the $40-billion funding bill in a 257-167 vote on Tuesday, March 3, averting a partial shutdown of the agency.
The legislation is free of immigration provisions, which Republicans have repeatedly attempted to include to reverse President Obama’s plans to spare millions of undocumented immigrants from deportation.
The bill’s passage marks a victory for Democrats, who have opposed any measure that did not completely fund the agency or included provisions on immigration.
“I am glad that House Republicans finally came to their senses,” said Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Calif.), a top Democrat on the Homeland Security Committee.
But for Republicans, it marks a defeat in a battle to use the spending bill to block the plans introduced by Obama last November.
Prior to the House’s approval, Congress passed a one-week stopgap spending bill that came just before funding for the agency expired on Friday, Feb. 27. The short-term patch came after a humiliating defeat for House Speaker John Boehner, when his chamber earlier that day rejected a three-week funding bill he proposed for the department.
“I am as outraged and frustrated as you at the lawless and unconstitutional actions of the president,” Boehner told his caucus on March 3, according to a source who agreed to speak on the condition of anonymity, according to the Associated Press.
With diminishing options left, Boehner told fellow Republicans it was clear that Senate Democrats would keep blocking his chamber’s bill and he did not want the department to shut down.
He presented three possible solutions to his members: a partial shutdown of the department, another short-term measure that would delay the fight, or a funding bill “clean” of immigration riders.
“I believe this decision – considering where we are – is the right one for this team, and the right one for this country,” he said.
Although his members accepted the third of these options, with 75 Republicans joining 182 Democrats in voting for the final bill, not all were pleased with the result.
“I believe this is a sad day for America,” said Rep. Matt Salmon (R-Ariz.), who called Obama’s actions unconstitutional. “If we’re not going to fight now, when are we going to fight?”
Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), who serves on the House Appropriations Committee, said Republicans should focus efforts on reversing Obama’s executive actions through the courts, where they have been temporarily stopped.
But Rep. Raul Labrador (R-Idaho) said House Republicans should have continued the fight to block Obama’s orders through legislation, adding that he also saw it as one to preserve the separation between the legislative branch and the White House, according to USA Today.
“Any person who votes for this deal today is voting to cede some of our power to the executive branch,” he said on March 3. Other GOP lawmakers, however, welcomed the House Speaker’s decision. “I do give John Boehner credit for standing strong through all this and guiding us,” said Rep. Peter King (R-NY), according to The New York Times. “A certain group takes the party in this crazy direction and we end up coming back and doing the right thing in the end, with just political damage done along the way. Thank God there was no governmental damage done along the way.”
The Republicans’ strategy was a particularly risky one, particularly given Homeland Security’s anti-terrorism responsibilities and gave Democrats an opportunity to accuse the GOP of putting national security at risk.
After Tuesday’s vote, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), the senior Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee, said he was relieved that a “clean” funding bill had finally passed.
“While it is clear that Democrats forced Speaker Boehner to stop playing political games with our Homeland Security budget, there are no winners here,” Thompson said. “We should have passed this bill last year and spent recent months trying to address evolving threats posed by radicalized extremist and cyber hackers whose attacks are becoming more and more sophisticated.
(With reports from Associated Press, FOX News, The New York Times and USA Today)
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