http://thehill.com/homenews/house/234175-house-bill-failsChaos in House as lawmakers reject DHS bill; shutdown nears
A short-term funding measure to keep the Department of Homeland Security open (DHS) was defeated in the House on Friday in a stunning vote that could result in a partial government shutdown at midnight.
The bill failed 203-224, with 51 Republicans voting against legislation that was set to fund the DHS and its associated agencies through March 19. Twelve Democrats voted for it.
The vote is a humiliating defeat for Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and his leadership team, who had scrambled to bring the three-week funding bill to the floor ahead of the looming deadline.
The next steps on the funding bill are not clear, with a shutdown of the agency just hours away.
House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) said to "stay tuned" on next steps as leaders talk with members of the Republican Conference.
GOP leaders could try to twist arms and bring the same bill to the floor again; they could bring up a shorter, one-week continuing resolution (CR) to pressure the Senate to go to a conference committee; or they could pass a funding bill by voice vote that keeps the DHS open through the weekend.
"So I think they'll just find whichever pathway they can find, and that would be the last resort, of course," said conservative Rep. John Fleming (R-La.), who voted against the funding bill.
Republicans had bet the short-term bill could be approved with some help from Democrats. But the minority party was determined to force Republicans to pass it on their own, despite the White House’s signal that President Obama could support the measure.
With Democrats united against the bill, the GOP could afford to lose only 28 of its own members.
The 15-minute vote began at 4:23 p.m., and was held open for 52 minutes as GOP leaders scrambled to try and flip votes to get the bill over the finish line.
Boehner grilled Rep. Scott DesJarlais (R-Tenn.) on the floor about his vote, while House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) huddled with deputy whip Rep. Patrick McHenry (N.C.).
DesJarlais did not change his mind.
Democrats mocked the GOP’s struggles, recalling how Boehner admonished members this week for not following the chamber's dress code.
"Madame Speaker, am I not properly dressed?" Rep. Joe Crowley (D-N.Y.) shouted from the microphone. "My shoes are polished."
Rep. Pete King (R-N.Y.), who on Thursday said he's "had it with this self-righteous delusional wing of the party," stood stone-faced as the "no" votes against the CR piled up.
The vote was gaveled to a close at 5:15 p.m., with GOP leaders more than a dozen votes short of a majority.
Conservatives rallied against the three-week bill because it would do nothing to overturn Obama’s actions on immigration. They are demanding that the bill include riders to block deportation deferrals and work visas for illegal immigrants.
Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.), who voted for the three-week CR, said he had heard “rumblings” before the vote that there might be enough opposition to take the bill down.
"It's a tough position for leadership right now. They've got to sort it all out and call a new play,” Womack said.
One potential move for Boehner would to bring up a clean bill passed by the Senate on Friday that would fund the DHS through September without reversing Obama’s immigration actions.
Earlier in the day, the House voted to form a conference committee with Senate on the clean bill, which could prevent Boehner from bringing it up again.
But Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said Boehner still has the option.
"We still have the Senate bill in our possession, we just clarified that with the parliamentarian, it hasn't gone back yet. ... The House, after voting on a conference committee report, can send it whenever it wants, and as of right now it's still here."
"They've got until midnight. ... They could go up to [the] Rules [Committee] and do it in a second," he said.
House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) on CNN pushed Boehner to bring up the long-term funding bill, promising Democrats would vote "overwhelmingly, if not unanimously" in favor of it.
“What is improper is to pretend that this situation will be different 21 days from now,” Hoyer said.
If DHS funding is not approved, employees of agencies such as the Coast Guard, the Secret Service and U.S. Customs and Border Enforcement could soon be forced to work without pay. Thousands of other officials would be furloughed.
Obama and DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson have warned for weeks that a shutdown of the DHS would threaten national security.
“Two months into the Republican Congress, we are already staring a Homeland Security shutdown square in the face, even as terrorists around the world threaten to strike America," Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said in a statement after the House vote.
“The Republican Congress has shown that it simply cannot govern.”
— Last updated at 5:50 p.m.
