http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/233035-obama-reid-to-meet-at-white-houseFebruary 17, 2015, 07:12 pm
Obama, Reid to meet at White House
By Jordain Carney
President Obama and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) will meet at the White House on Wednesday.
Reid missed a meeting between Obama and other congressional leaders last month as he recovered from injuries sustained in an exercise accident.
The administration, which included the meeting as part of the president’s schedule, didn’t say what the two would discuss. But, the ongoing fight over how to fund the Department of Homeland Security is likely to be high on the list.
The stalemate over the department comes as Republicans seek to deny funding for Obama's executive actions on immigration.
Democrats, including Reid, want to pass a “clean” spending bill to fund the department, which runs out of money on Feb. 27.
Reid, in a statement Tuesday, called the current battle over how to fund DHS “a completely avoidable impasse.”
“Democrats’ offer to first fund Homeland Security and then debate immigration stands. All Republicans have to do is say yes," Reid said.
But House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said during an interview with “Fox News Sunday” that if the department runs out of money, Senate Democrats would get the blame.
“The House has done its job under the Constitution,” he said during the interview.
Senate Democrats have blocked a House-passed bill rolling back Obama's immigration actions, and Republicans don’t have the votes to overcome a filibuster.
Wednesday's meeting also comes after U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen ruled Monday to temporarily block the new immigration programs, some of which were slated to begin Wednesday. As a result, DHS is suspending some of Obama’s orders to delay immigration deportations.
Reid and Obama will also likely discuss the ongoing fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). The administration gave lawmakers proposed language for a new authorization approving the use of military force before the Senate left for a week-long Presidents’ Day recess.
Obama is expected to speak Wednesday at the summit for countering violent extremism, being held at the White House.
