“The President convened a meeting in the Oval Office with Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson, OMB Director Shaun Donovan and members of his senior team to discuss the impending deadline for funding the Department of Homeland Security,” the statement, issued on Friday, said.
Ahead of the Oval Office meeting, the US House of Representatives failed to pass a measure that would authorize funding for the DHS through March 19, which would have prevented the agency from partially shutting down by the end of the night.
Obama also called on US Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and US Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid for updates on their efforts to ensure that DHS would not shut down by midnight.
The House Joint Resolution that Congress failed to pass just hours before the DHS funding deadline, would have authorized temporary funding for the DHS for a period of three weeks. The measure was supported by a majority of Republicans, but failed to garner Democratic support.
Earlier on Friday, the US Senate voted to approve a $40 billion bill to fund the DHS through September 30, 2015, and the bill was sent to the US House. However, the House opted to proceed with a three-week funding extension.
White House spokesperson Josh Earnest said earlier on Friday that Obama would not allow the DHS to shut down.
