Senate Democrats stall GOP legislation on homeland security, immigration for second time

WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 03: U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) speaks during a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Western Hemisphere Subcommittee February 3, 2015 in Washington, DC. The committee heard testimony on the impact of U.S. policy changes in Cuba. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) (2015 Getty Images)

WASHINGTON (AP) – Senate Republicans put Democrats on record for a second time Wednesday against legislation combining Homeland Security funding with rollbacks of President Barack Obama's immigration policies. But there was little evidence Congress was any closer to a solution to fund the department past Feb. 27 as that deadline approaches.

The vote in the Senate was 53 to 47, similar to Tuesday's vote on a similar procedural measure, and well short of the 60 votes that would be needed to open debate on a House-passed Homeland Security measure. The bill would pay for the Homeland department through Sept. 30, the end of the current budget year, and undo Obama's executive actions limiting deportations for millions of people who are in the United States illegally.

Another procedural vote was expected Thursday, with another after that, perhaps more.

"Is that the definition of insanity, voting on the same bill over and over again?" Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., quipped to reporters ahead of Wednesday's vote.

Democrats said that no matter how many times Republicans held the vote, the outcome would be the same unless the contested language on immigration were removed.

"This is pretty simple. At a time when the world is united in trying to send a strong signal about confronting ISIS and defeating ISIS, I think putting veto bait in the funding for homeland security is a very bad idea," said Sen. Claire McCaskill, R-Mo.

But if the point was to prove to House conservatives that their legislation would not fly in the Senate, where the Democratic minority holds more sway, the goal had not yet been met.

"That was our best offer, and that's what we expect," said Rep. Matt Salmon, R-Ariz.

From the White House, Obama countered the GOP by hosting an Oval Office meeting with a half-dozen young immigrants protected by his policies. The GOP legislation would subject Obama's visitors to eventual deportation.

After the meeting, Obama accused Republicans of ignoring the "human consequences" of their legislation, repeated his threat to veto the bill if it reached his desk and said he was confident a veto would be sustained. As for GOP efforts to link homeland security money to reversing his immigration action, Obama said "there is no logic to that position."

"Why would you cut off your nose to spite your face by defunding the very operations that are involved in making sure we have strong border security?" he said.

Indeed most agreed that Congress would find a way to approve the funding, even if it meant passing a short-term extension ahead of the Feb. 27 deadline before coming up with a final deal.

How and when lawmakers would get there was less clear in a new era of divided government, with Republicans in full control of Congress for the first time in eight years and Obama ready and willing to wield his veto pen.

House Republicans were casting about for another solution, such as splitting up the funding bill, Salmon said. He said a lawsuit over Obama's immigration actions, as Boehner has said is possible, would not satisfy conservatives.

In the Senate, Republicans including moderate Susan Collins of Maine were looking for a way out.

Collins said she was working with Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and others on alternate legislation to fund the department and roll back the new administration policies limiting deportations, but keeping in place protections for immigrants brought to the U.S. as children.

"I think it's a good solution and a way to resolve an impasse that has the potential to cause some real harm," Collins said in an interview.

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