Tonight, the House passed a one-week extension of funding for the Department of Homeland Security and the Senate followed suit. The votes capped off a volatile day in which, for the most part, Republicans fought to defund President Obama’s executive amnesties after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., caved to Democrats who had been blocking the agency's funding.
Earlier in the day, House Democrats said they would not support passage of a short-term continuing resolution extending DHS funding through March 19th. House Republicans who wanted to make stand against the president’s amnesties joined Democrats to deny passage on a 203-224 vote.
House Republicans leaders worked their caucus and eventually found agreement on a one-week extension of DHS funding. Democrats dropped their block on passage and the measure passed on a 357-60 vote.
According to a report in Politico, Democrats said they had an agreement to allow a vote next week to fund DHS through the end of the fiscal year. That vote would occur if the Senate denies the House request for a conference committee between the House-passed bill, which contains measures to defund Obama’s executive amnesties, and the Senate-passed bill, which excludes those provisions. However Micheal Steel, spokesman for Speaker Boehner, denied there was a deal. “It’s her opinion, there is no agreement,” he said.
Read more in Politico.
