The US Congress is a step closer to funding most of the US government through September next year with a plan that sidesteps Tea Party opposition and pushes the fight over immigration policy to the new Republican US Congress.
After Thursday’s symbolic House of Representatives vote to protest US President Barack Obama’s order easing deportation of undocumented immigrants, appropriations leaders in both parties were to work yesterday to complete a spending bill, with votes expected next week.
Democrats and Republicans said they would keep the government open after Dec. 11, when current funding expires.
House Speaker John Boehner devised the two-step strategy to keep Tea Party members from using the funding bill to vent their frustration over Obama’s executive orders.
The real battle over immigration will come next year, when Republicans also control the US Senate, Boehner said on Thursday.
“The House will work to keep the government open while keeping our leverage so that when we have reinforcements in the Senate, we’re in the strongest position to take additional actions to fight the president’s unilateral actions,” Boehner told reporters.
That strategy “gives us the best chance for success,” he said.
US House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers, a Republican, said he and Senate counterpart Barbara Mikulski, a Democrat, planned yesterday to “sign off on the final deal” to finance the federal government.
Disagreements remain over a series of unrelated policy measures that Republicans want to attach and Democrats oppose.
Under Boehner’s plan, the US Department of Homeland Security, with primary responsibility for immigration policy, would be funded only into March next year.
That sets up a clash early next year, when he and incoming US Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell will face more pressure from the expanded Republican majority to retaliate against Obama’s action.
The timing also would let Republicans try to advance border security and immigration measures, such as expanding visas for high-skilled workers.
“The smart thing for Republicans to do next year is to pass a strong border security bill, coupled with pro-reform initiatives that address issues like high-tech visas, and challenge Democrats to oppose it,” Republican strategist Brian Walsh said, adding that Republicans “need to demonstrate that they are willing to lead on long-overdue issues like this.”
Such a strategy would be intended to limit political fallout from the Hispanic community following Republicans’ assault on Obama’s orders.
Immigration activists are warning of repercussions after Thursday’s House vote to block Obama’s immigration orders. The Democratic-led Senate will not take up the bill.
“This is not a fight between Republicans and the president,” National Council of La Raza immigration policy director Clarissa Martinez-De-Castro said. “We will hold accountable anyone who chooses to play politics with people’s lives.”
Enactment of spending legislation next week would mark a victory for Boehner’s ability to prevent a rebellion among Tea Party-backed Republicans.
Tea Party Republicans’ bid to use a spending bill to defund Obamacare led to a 16-day partial government shutdown in October last year.
US Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the Senate will not consider the House bill that passed on Thursday, H.R. 5759, which would deny the president authority to protect undocumented immigrants in the US from deportation.
“It tears families apart while doing nothing to fix the real problems we face,” Reid said in a statement.
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