Boehner Bids for Time in Immigration Fight With Obama
There are only hours left until the clock strikes midnight and the Department of Homeland Security runs out of funding. While Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell seemingly kissed up to the filibustering Democrat minority, passing a clean DHS funding bill that gives the department money to fund Barack Obama’s immigration executive actions, House Speaker John Boehner is not so compromising. When a reporter asked Thursday if Boehner would propose a clean DHS funding bill, he blew defiant kisses in reply. At the same press conference, Boehner said, “We passed a bill to fund the department six weeks ago. Six weeks ago! It’s time for the Senate to act. How many times do I have to say it?” So as a counteroffer, Boehner introduced a continuing resolution that would simply fund DHS for three weeks. While it buys the GOP more time, a defiant president waits at the end of the legislative process. Obama recently said if congressional Republicans “want to have a vote on whether what I’m doing is legal or not, they can have that vote. I will veto that vote.” Lawmakers, he says, don’t have the power to make laws.