Free Republic

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell faced a backlash Wednesday from conservatives after backing off demands that Congress reverse President Obama’s immigration executive actions as a condition for funding the Department of Homeland Security. Senate Democrats, meanwhile, voiced support for the new plan after initially staying coy. A day earlier, McConnell, R-Ky., effectively gave them what they’ve been demanding – by agreeing to hold a stand-alone vote on a DHS funding bill, with no immigration measures attached. “We are going to do everything we can to make sure it passes by an overwhelming vote. I think virtually every Democrat will vote...

Sad and disappointing but not a surprise. Sen. Mitch McConnell has showed himself to be the gutless wimp that we’ve all known he is. He has given the Democrats exactly what they have been demanding. In other words, Sen. Mitch McConnell, as majority leader, has shown the same feckless, flaccidity that he showed while minority leader. What he’s done is pass the buck back to the House: This is a shame. The issue is not only important but it is an easy win. It is the Democrats and the White House that need DHS funded. The GOP doesn’t. Something like...

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is calling on rank-and-file Senate Democrats to break free from the clutches of Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, vote their conscience and stop filibustering a House-passed Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding bill. “This ruling underscores what the President has already acknowledged publicly 22 times: He doesn’t have the authority to take the kinds of actions he once referred to as ‘ignoring the law’ and ‘unwise and unfair.’ Senate Democrats–especially those who’ve voiced opposition to the President’s executive overreach—should end their partisan filibuster of Department of Homeland Security funding,” McConnell says. Senate Republican conference chairman...

WASHINGTON — Just one day before undocumented immigrants were set to begin applying for work permits and legal protections, the Obama administration announced on Tuesday that it would delay carrying out President Obama’s executive actions on immigration, saying a federal judge’s last-minute ruling had tied the White House’s hands. Jeh C. Johnson, the Homeland Security secretary, vowed to appeal the court ruling, which said that the president had not followed proper legal procedures in instituting his program. But Mr. Johnson said the department would comply with it by suspending plans to begin accepting applications from an expanded group of illegal...

The Senate just failed to pass a bill to fund Department of Homeland Security by forcing President Obama to undo his executive actions to protect unauthorized immigrants from deportation. One Republican, Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV), voted with Democrats against the bill. Congress and the president need to agree on a plan to fund DHS sometime before February 27th, when its current funding runs out. If they can't agree on a funding bill, DHS will be in a technical shutdown — but around 85 percent of the department will keep coming to work as "essential" government workers or employees of fee-funded...

The headline in one Washington newspaper read: “Senate Dems block legislation reversing immigration actions.” That’s one way to see it. A more accurate headline would have been: “Senate Democrats block debate over legislation funding the Department of Homeland Security.” The latter is exactly what all 45 Senate Democrats did earlier this week when they voted against “the motion to proceed” ... Democrats have clearly decided their only hope of winning this battle is to frame the GOP as the obstructionist party as long as the media will let them get away with it. And so far they have...