WASHINGTON, January 17 (Sputnik) — The US Congress has to pass a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appropriations bill without an amendment to defund US President Barack Obama’s executive actions on immigration, or the DHS will advise US President Barack Obama to veto the bill, DHS Secretary said in a Friday speech in Washington, DC.
“We need a clean appropriations bill for homeland security in this country,” DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson said. “If a bill comes to his [Obama’s] desk, the president’s staff and I will recommend that he veto that bill as long as it has those amendments on it.”
Secretary Johnson addressed the need for Congress to pass an appropriations bill “free of politically charged amendment concerning immigration.”
Until February 27, the DHS budget is being funded by a continuing resolution, which caps agency spending at 2014 levels. Johnson warned that the agency’s ability to fund new initiatives for border security, new technology, and improvements to the Secret Service “is seriously hampered as long as the budget of Homeland Security is on a continuing resolution.”
Following a November executive action by President Obama to address immigration challenges without consulting the US Congress, members of the Republican Party announced plans to defund portions of DHS responsible for carrying out the president’s policy.
The appropriations bill, amended to defund Obama’s executive order, passed the US House of Representatives and will be voted on in the Senate. Obama has threatened to veto any legislation that interferes with his executive action on immigration, according to recent statements from the White House.
