Senate Dems will accept McConnell's DHS deal
But it's still uncertain if the House can pass a 'clean' spending bill.
By Manu Raju
Senate Democrats will accept Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's offer to head off a shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security on Friday - a sharp reversal from their position just a day earlier, and a move that could ramp up pressure on House Speaker John Boehner.
After a party lunch on Wednesday, the minority party agreed to McConnell's proposal to vote on a "clean" bill to fund DHS through September and separately on a measure to block President Barack Obama's November immigration directive. But Democrats say they will not debate that bill until Obama has signed a DHS funding measure.
On Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) had insisted he wouldn't sign off on that option unless Boehner (R-Ohio) offered assurances it would clear the House, too. But that position proved untenable as Boehner urged the Senate to pass something, and Democrats don't want to set themselves up to be blamed for holding up funding for the vital security agency after getting McConnell to bend to their repeated demands for a vote on a clean DHS bill.
With cooperation of all 100 senators - no guarantee - the Senate could begin the process as early as Wednesday afternoon.
Senate Democrats discussed the strategy shift during a private caucus lunch. After blocking a House-passed DHS bill on four separate occasions, Democrats now say they will open debate on the measure with assurances that the immigration riders will be stripped out. Three red-state Democrats - West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, North Dakota Sen. Heidi Heitkamp and Indiana Sen. Joe Donnelly - met privately for 20 minutes Wednesday and planned to push their party's leadership to have a more open negotiating position.
"It's an important step to be able to send to the House of Representatives a bill that funds that Department of Homeland Security," Reid said after the caucus lunch. "All eyes now shift to the House of Representatives as soon as we pass our clean funding bill."
In an interview, Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said Democrats may vote to begin debate on the House bill, provided they "definitely" receive assurances from McConnell that he would stick to his vow to let the clean bill proceed.
"If there's agreement about how we're going to progress, we can reach that point," Durbin said, "because I think this may be the only vehicle that avoids day after weary day of procedural votes."
As part of the emerging deal, the Senate would also vote on a separate measure written by Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) to block Obama's 2014 executive action allowing millions of undocumented immigrants to avoid deportation. That plan would probably lack the votes to overcome a veto, and Democrats said they won't vote to open debate on it until the DHS funding jam is put to rest.
Asked why Democrats have made a sudden reversal on their party strategy to wait for Boehner to send the Senate a signal, Durbin later said that his party is testing out the "waters of trust" with McConnell that the majority leader will keep the immigration riders separate from the DHS bill from here on out.
"We've received assurance from McConnell that he will move this bill in a clean fashion and send it to the House," Durbin said. "And we believe that we can control our fate when it comes to [the Collins bill] if the House acts in bad faith" by not taking up long-term DHS funding bill.
Both Durbin and Reid said they would urge Senate Democrats to defeat advancing Collins' proposal until the possibility of a DHS shutdown has officially been put to rest. They're opposing a start to a weeks-long immigration debate until the funding decks are clear.
Given the arcane procedures of the Senate, it could take days for the chamber to clear procedural hurdles to advance the clean bill, potentially pushing the fight into the weekend after DHS funding lapses. And it's still far from certain a DHS bill that's silent on immigration could pass the conservative-dominated House.
Though Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) joked his caucus is "peace, love and understanding," GOP leaders could find their own members putting up blockades to swift passage. Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Jeff Sessions of Alabama, who both oppose McConnell's strategy of decoupling immigration and DHS funding, declined to say whether they will hold up passage of a clean bill.
Asked what he will do, Cruz referred a reporter to his Tuesday statement in which he called McConnell's new strategy a "mistake."
Democrats have made voting on a clean funding bill through September their chief demand as they blocked a House-passed DHS bill that blocks Obama's actions to defer deportations and provide work permits for roughly 5 million illegal immigrants. McConnell has been lambasting Reid's position that he needs to hear assurances fromBoehner that the House will take up the clean DHS spending bill, calling Democrats "hypocritical" after holding news conferences on Tuesday urging McConnell to allow a vote on a bill free of riders.
Boehner said Wednesday he would wait for the Senate to pass a bill before announcing his next steps. And McC0nnell said it's time for Democrats to cooperate.
"The onus continues to be on the Democrat Party to keep the Department of Homeland Security funded," the Kentucky Republican said Wednesday morning. "Democrats can fund DHS now, not by holding more hypocritical press conferences but by ending their senseless filibuster and cooperating across the aisle."
But Senate Democrats had been reluctant to agree to McConnell's offer because they do not believe Boehner will accept it in his more conservative chamber, leading to a game of pingpong between the two chambers and no final resolution. Several Democrats complained during a closed-door meeting Tuesday that the end result will be a short-term continuing resolution of DHS funding due to Boehner and McConnell's opposite negotiating positions and the impending Friday funding deadline.
"We have a lot of traps to run. Our caucus is wary," said one senior Democratic aide. "We're basically setting ourselves up to get a CR. And the truth is, there's probably nothing we can do about that."
Cave
But it's still uncertain if the House can pass a 'clean' spending bill.
By Manu Raju
Senate Democrats will accept Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's offer to head off a shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security on Friday - a sharp reversal from their position just a day earlier, and a move that could ramp up pressure on House Speaker John Boehner.
After a party lunch on Wednesday, the minority party agreed to McConnell's proposal to vote on a "clean" bill to fund DHS through September and separately on a measure to block President Barack Obama's November immigration directive. But Democrats say they will not debate that bill until Obama has signed a DHS funding measure.
On Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) had insisted he wouldn't sign off on that option unless Boehner (R-Ohio) offered assurances it would clear the House, too. But that position proved untenable as Boehner urged the Senate to pass something, and Democrats don't want to set themselves up to be blamed for holding up funding for the vital security agency after getting McConnell to bend to their repeated demands for a vote on a clean DHS bill.
With cooperation of all 100 senators - no guarantee - the Senate could begin the process as early as Wednesday afternoon.
Senate Democrats discussed the strategy shift during a private caucus lunch. After blocking a House-passed DHS bill on four separate occasions, Democrats now say they will open debate on the measure with assurances that the immigration riders will be stripped out. Three red-state Democrats - West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, North Dakota Sen. Heidi Heitkamp and Indiana Sen. Joe Donnelly - met privately for 20 minutes Wednesday and planned to push their party's leadership to have a more open negotiating position.
"It's an important step to be able to send to the House of Representatives a bill that funds that Department of Homeland Security," Reid said after the caucus lunch. "All eyes now shift to the House of Representatives as soon as we pass our clean funding bill."
In an interview, Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said Democrats may vote to begin debate on the House bill, provided they "definitely" receive assurances from McConnell that he would stick to his vow to let the clean bill proceed.
"If there's agreement about how we're going to progress, we can reach that point," Durbin said, "because I think this may be the only vehicle that avoids day after weary day of procedural votes."
As part of the emerging deal, the Senate would also vote on a separate measure written by Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) to block Obama's 2014 executive action allowing millions of undocumented immigrants to avoid deportation. That plan would probably lack the votes to overcome a veto, and Democrats said they won't vote to open debate on it until the DHS funding jam is put to rest.
Asked why Democrats have made a sudden reversal on their party strategy to wait for Boehner to send the Senate a signal, Durbin later said that his party is testing out the "waters of trust" with McConnell that the majority leader will keep the immigration riders separate from the DHS bill from here on out.
"We've received assurance from McConnell that he will move this bill in a clean fashion and send it to the House," Durbin said. "And we believe that we can control our fate when it comes to [the Collins bill] if the House acts in bad faith" by not taking up long-term DHS funding bill.
Both Durbin and Reid said they would urge Senate Democrats to defeat advancing Collins' proposal until the possibility of a DHS shutdown has officially been put to rest. They're opposing a start to a weeks-long immigration debate until the funding decks are clear.
Given the arcane procedures of the Senate, it could take days for the chamber to clear procedural hurdles to advance the clean bill, potentially pushing the fight into the weekend after DHS funding lapses. And it's still far from certain a DHS bill that's silent on immigration could pass the conservative-dominated House.
Though Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) joked his caucus is "peace, love and understanding," GOP leaders could find their own members putting up blockades to swift passage. Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Jeff Sessions of Alabama, who both oppose McConnell's strategy of decoupling immigration and DHS funding, declined to say whether they will hold up passage of a clean bill.
Asked what he will do, Cruz referred a reporter to his Tuesday statement in which he called McConnell's new strategy a "mistake."
Democrats have made voting on a clean funding bill through September their chief demand as they blocked a House-passed DHS bill that blocks Obama's actions to defer deportations and provide work permits for roughly 5 million illegal immigrants. McConnell has been lambasting Reid's position that he needs to hear assurances fromBoehner that the House will take up the clean DHS spending bill, calling Democrats "hypocritical" after holding news conferences on Tuesday urging McConnell to allow a vote on a bill free of riders.
Boehner said Wednesday he would wait for the Senate to pass a bill before announcing his next steps. And McC0nnell said it's time for Democrats to cooperate.
"The onus continues to be on the Democrat Party to keep the Department of Homeland Security funded," the Kentucky Republican said Wednesday morning. "Democrats can fund DHS now, not by holding more hypocritical press conferences but by ending their senseless filibuster and cooperating across the aisle."
But Senate Democrats had been reluctant to agree to McConnell's offer because they do not believe Boehner will accept it in his more conservative chamber, leading to a game of pingpong between the two chambers and no final resolution. Several Democrats complained during a closed-door meeting Tuesday that the end result will be a short-term continuing resolution of DHS funding due to Boehner and McConnell's opposite negotiating positions and the impending Friday funding deadline.
"We have a lot of traps to run. Our caucus is wary," said one senior Democratic aide. "We're basically setting ourselves up to get a CR. And the truth is, there's probably nothing we can do about that."
Cave
