Republicans in the Senate and the House of Representatives are at loggerheads over who should put an end to the stalemate regarding Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding. Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, says that it is clear that the funding bill that included attachments to stop President Obama’s immigration reform executive action is not going to pass the Senate and that the next move is clearly up to the House of Representatives.
“It is clear that we can’t get on the bill,” McConnell notes. “We can’t offer amendments to the bill. And I think it would be pretty safe to say we’re stuck because of Democratic obstruction on the Senate side.” A spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner, however, blamed Republicans in the Senate for not having the courage to vote for the bill.
Neither the White House nor Democrats in the Senate seem to be overly concerned with the situation, despite funding for the Department of Homeland Security coming to an end on the 27th of this month. Some Democrats say that it is the responsibility of the Republican Party to come up with a funding bill devoid of immigration reform attachments and stop jeopardizing the security of the United States for political reasons.
“The Republican majority is twiddling its thumbs as it gets closer and closer to shutting down DHS,” says Senator Charles Schumer. He added that the Democrats have agreed to a debate on the US immigration reform issue if the Republicans present a clean funding bill; however, the latter prefer to stick to “hostage-taking tactics”.