WASHINGTON -- Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell unveiled a two-step plan Tuesday to avoid a partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security, which will run out of money Friday if Congress fails to act.
McConnell, R-Ky., said he's willing to hold a vote on a bill solely to fund the department -- one free of provisions to roll back President Barack Obama's executive actions on immigration. The Senate would then vote on a separate measure to halt the November immigration action that, among other things, would defer the deportations of millions of illegal aliens.
"I've indicated to the Democratic leader that I'd be happy to have his cooperation to advance the consideration of a clean DHS bill which would carry us through to Sept. 30," the end of this fiscal year, McConnell said. "I don't know what's not to like about this."
White House press secretary Josh Earnest said the administration stands ready to talk with lawmakers about the proposal but added that "we shouldn't compromise our homeland security just because Republicans want to pick a fight."
"We're hopeful that Republicans will do the responsible thing, that they join Democrats to support a full-year extension of funding for the Department of Homeland Security prior to the deadline," Earnest said.
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., approached McConnell's offer cautiously, saying he wants to know how it will play in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.
The House passed a $40 billion Homeland Security Department funding bill last month that also contained language attacking Obama's immigration actions.
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and most members of his caucus have insisted that the Senate vote on their bill, which they believe gives them leverage against the White House on immigration.
The maneuvering occurred as the president's party raised the specter of terrorism, and Republicans countered that it was the Democrats who were preventing an orderly renewal of funding for the Homeland Security Department.
At a news conference a few hours before McConnell spoke, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., urged Republicans to "fund our security and not to send a message to al-Shabab that we're going to shut down Homeland Security."
Klobuchar's state is home to the Mall of America, a facility that was singled out as a potential terror target in a video released by al-Shabab, an Islamic militant group linked to the al-Qaida terrorist network. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson has urged anyone considering a trip to the shopping mall to be particularly careful.
Republicans, meanwhile, blamed Democrats for the lack of resolution on the funding issue, pointing out that Democrats blocked Senate action four times on the combined funding-immigration bill.
If Congress doesn't approve funding by Friday, the agency will furlough some 30,000 workers, including much of the headquarters staff.
The department's agencies -- which include the Border Patrol, the Secret Service, the Coast Guard, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement -- would continue to operate during a shutdown, but the 75 percent to 80 percent of employees who continue to work wouldn't receive paychecks.
"Every day I press the staff at my headquarters to stay one step ahead of groups like ISIL and threats to our aviation security," Johnson said in a news conference Monday, referring to the Islamic State extremist group. "If we shut down, that staff is cut back to a skeleton."
If an agreement can't be reached this week, another option that has been under consideration is a 30-day Homeland Security Department funding bill, said a congressional aide who sought anonymity last week to describe private talks.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said a stopgap funding bill would harm security planning by the national agency and local officials.
"I'm waiting to hear from the speaker," Reid said Friday of McConnell's proposal. "You know, we have to make sure that people understand the bicameral nature of this Congress that we serve in. So to have Sen. McConnell just pass the ball over to the House isn't going to do the trick. I'm waiting to hear from the speaker."
McConnell and Boehner have been in a tug of war over strategy. Two weeks ago, McConnell declared the Homeland Security Department bill "clearly stuck in the Senate" and said the next step was up to the House. Boehner said "the House did its job" and that the Senate must make the next move.
Michael Steel, Boehner's spokesman, said in an email Friday: "The speaker has been clear: The House has acted, and now Senate Democrats need to stop hiding. Will they continue to block funding for the Department of Homeland Security or not?"
McConnell's plan faces a tough sell in the House and among conservatives, many of whom are to gather in suburban Washington today for the annual Conservative Political Action Conference.
Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, one of the House's most vocal opponents of Obama's immigration policies, posted on Twitter: "Senators arguing fund DHS but vote a separate bill to defund executive amnesty. Have you heard of Obama veto? Think we were born yesterday?"
"Senators want separate bill to defund exec amnesty," King wrote in another post. "Fine, when & only when Obama signs bill to defund exec amnesty, we will then fund DHS."
Heritage Action, the political arm of the conservative Heritage Foundation, also frowned on McConnell's plan. Michael Needham, Heritage Action's chief executive officer, said the group will score negatively any vote for a Homeland Security Department bill that "would allow for the funding of the president's unconstitutional amnesty."
"Further exposing the blatant hypocrisy of Senate Democrats is no substitute for stopping President Obama's dangerous and unlawful amnesty," Needham said in a statement. "As the majority leader said last year, the power of the purse is the 'only tool' Congress has to rein in executive overreach."
Still, several Senate Republicans expressed support for McConnell's strategy.
"I like it," said Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., "But there are some who feel we still need to restrict that funding."
Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., one of the Senate's main critics on Obama's immigration actions, said he'll consider McConnell's plan, but "I remain firmly convinced that Congress should put the heat where it belongs, and that's on the president who's overreached."
Information for this article was contributed by William Douglas and Lesley Clark of Tribune News Service; by David Espo, Erica Werner, Andrew Taylor and Steven Ohlemacher of The Associated Press; and by Heidi Przybyla, Kathleen Hunter, Kathleen Miller, Erik Wasson, Derek Wallbank and Billy House of Bloomberg News.
A Section on 02/25/2015