Democrats filibuster DHS bill again
Senate Democrats again blocked Republicansâ attempt Wednesday to bring up a funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security â filibustering the legislation over provisions that would unravel President Barack Obamaâs executive actions on immigration. The vote was 53-47. Story Continued Below The Senate had reached the same outcome on a procedural vote on the same bill Tuesday, and the situation is expected to play out again this week â quite apropos in the days after Groundhog Day. Senate Republicans plan to force the minority to block the bill multiple times, and they slammed Democrats for refusing to let the chamber even take up the DHS funding measure so changes more to their liking could be considered. âThey prevented the legislation from even being debated,â Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said earlier Wednesday of the Democrats. âTodayâs Democrat Party seems willing to go to any extreme to protect the kind of executive overreach President Obama once described as ânot how our democracy functionsâ â even to block Homeland Security funding to get its way.â But Democrats say they wonât take up anything short of a clean funding bill free of immigration riders attacking Obamaâs executive actions, insisting that a debate over immigration should not be tied to must-pass funding for DHS.