DHS Funding Stuck In Senate, So What’s Next?

Bee-Creative/iStock/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — The Senate failed to clear a key procedural hurdle to advance the House-passed bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security Monday night, just days before funding for the department is set to expire.

For the fourth time in two weeks, the Senate voted 47 to 46 to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to the measure, falling 13 votes short of the 60 needed to clear the procedural hurdle.

As they have done each time before, Senate Democrats remained unified in opposing moving forward with the bill. Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nevada, is the lone Republican to consistently vote against the measure.

So what happens next? It’s still a little unclear but there is one political solution looming.

Following the failed vote Monday night, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, introduced a stand-alone bill to block funding for President Obama’s executive actions on immigration. This bill would not be tied to DHS funding at all and would get Senate Democrats on the record on the president’s executive actions.

“It’s another way to get the Senate unstuck,” McConnell said.

But it’s unclear right now how and if funding for the Department of Homeland Security will be resolved ahead of the February 27th deadline.

Lawmakers could still file a clean funding bill with no immigration provisions attached, but that move would be a very tough sell with many Republicans in the House and Senate.

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