US Senators voted for a fourth time on Monday to reject debate on the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding bill, falling short of the 60 votes needed to proceed.
“On this vote, the yays are 47 the nays are 46, three fifths of the senators duly chosen and sworn not having voted in the affirmative the motion is not agreed to,” the presiding officer announced following the final vote count on Monday.
Funding for the DHS is set to run out on Friday, following US Congress’ decision to oppose US President Barack Obama’s immigration reform by funding the department through a temporary measure known as continuing resolution.
“The Senate is locked in a game of parliamentary ping pong on moving this legislation forward where the losers are the American people,” US Senator and
“Look at what’s going on in our country right now, we are absolutely relying on homeland security for some of the biggest challenges… facing us right now there’s the terrorists and there’s cold weather, Mikulski said.
On Monday, Obama warned that over 100,000 DHS personnel would likely be forced to work without pay while the decision on funding the department remains pending.
Meanwhile, White House spokesperson Josh Earnest said that Obama was prepared to discuss ways to improve the American immigration system with Congress as long as it helped to ensure funding for the DHS.
The US House of Representatives introduced a $39.7 billion appropriations bill for the DHS in January. However, the bill included a Republican-sponsored amendment to withhold funding for any of the President Obama’s executive actions on immigration, which grant millions of undocumented immigrants a permission to legally stay and work in the United States.
Obama said that he would veto any bill that does not fully fund the department, turning the issue into a brewing political battle between his administration and the Republican controlled Congress.
