SATURDAY UPDATE: Congress passes one-week extension of DHS funding last night setting up a fresh battle for next week, while the immediate story continues to revolve around House Speaker John Boehner's crushing defeat at the hands of conservative House Republicans. Politico:
The vote was 357-60. The Senate approved the stopgap measure earlier Friday evening and it was signed by President Barack Obama minutes before the midnight deadline when the department’s funding was to expire.
The 11th-hour move came after dozens of House Republicans dealt a humiliating defeat to Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and other GOP leaders. Conservatives teamed up with Democrats to shoot down a Boehner-backed measure that would have funded DHS for three weeks.
Boehner’s allies are concerned after Friday’s setback that his critics inside the Republican Conference may try to oust him as speaker if — as expected — he puts a long-term DHS funding bill on the House floor next week. While Boehner shrugs off such speculation, close friends believe such a move is a real possibility.
Are these the final days of Boehner's speakership? Is the GOP-controlled House totally incapable of carrying out basic responsibilities? All these questions and more will be answered next week! Stay tuned as the embarrassing spectacle that is the 114th Congress continues after a word from our sponsor.
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UPDATE #3: Via the Associated Press: "You have made a mess," [Rep. Nancy] Pelosi said to Republicans as debate neared an end on the measure.
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UPDATE #2: Twitter is abuzz. Republicans have the largest Congressional majorities since the New Deal…they just can't govern.
Wow, the 3-week DHS CR FAILS in the House, 203-224. There's currently no plan B in the House to keep DHS funded past midnight
— Frank Thorp V (@frankthorpNBC) February 27, 2015
Plan B? Looks like Plan B is for Republicans to get slaughtered in 2016.
A small clutch of conservatives worked vociferously against a sophisticated and large leadership team – and won.
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) February 27, 2015
A disaster for Boehner, House votes 203-224 to kill three-week stop-gap that would have kept DHS afloat — seven hours before deadline
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) February 27, 2015
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UPDATE: Click here to see the voting live on the House floor.
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It appears as though House Republicans may not pass legislation to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in time for the midnight deadline tonight. Voting is happening as we type — we'll update when the final tally is available.
Here's what the Washington Post wrote a few hours ago, when it still seemed as though Republicans would do something in the House.
House Republicans are hoping to pass a stopgap funding bill Friday that would avert a partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security at midnight, as the Senate passed its own bill that would fund the agency through September.
The House GOP plan is a fallback proposal Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) put forth to rank-and-file members in a Thursday meeting. He did so because a House-passed funding bill that takes aim at President Obama’s executive actions on immigration has been blocked in the Senate.
The new measure would fund DHS for three more weeks. If approved by Congress, it would continue a standoff between the House and the Senate over more lasting agency funding. The Senate bill to fund DHS through September that would not touch Obama’s immigration directives passed on a 68-31 vote Friday morning.
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Can you imagine what the righties would be saying (screaming more like it) if a Dem majority House was holding DHS funding hostage? I can hear Modster now and see AC's cartoons, not to mention everyone on Fox and Rush Limbaugh. They'd be burning Nancy Pelosi in effigy.
As proof that the GOP can govern efficiently and effectively, this falls pretty far short. Stacked up with the anti-abortion failure on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, it's pretty pathetic.
I'd say this is the gang that can't shoot straight, but they haven't missed their foot yet.
At least their problems are consistent. In a normal world, that means they can diagnose the problem and begin to address it. I don't know that it works that way in GOP-land, though.
Need to insert the animated jpeg of Boehner kissing his Speakership goodbye.
The nutters own him now.
He's been such an incompetent Speaker for so long. Nancy Pelosi managed to actually get things done, even while doing so under a Republican President. Maybe that's why the right loves to vilify her. I guess they stick with Boehner because incompetence isn't a problem when you're only goal is obstruction. It doesn't matter that he can't get anything done since they don't want to get anything done. In fact, so much the better. Let the merlot chugging, kiss blowing, orange guy be in charge.
Hell, Gingrich was better than this baffoon. Did he do that kissing thing again today?
Maybe Boehner took the Hippocratic Oath? Primum non nocere.
The comparison to Pelosi is even more stark and pronounced. Until Jan. 2011, Pelosi presided over a caucus which was probably more ideologically diverse than the gaggle of wing nuts Boner has to deal with. Until Nov. 2010 when we start to shed the Blue Dog Democrats, Pelosi had to get those white southern conservatives to work with the liberals in the party. Boner basically has three factions and there's not that much space between them: the Chamber of Commerce establishment guys, the libertarians and the nut cases.
Or what passes for libertarian today. But hey. That's what they call themselves and there isn't any other kind in office so I guess being for stuff like controlling women's family planning decisions is libertarian now just like all the stuff Headbanger objects to as not conservative is conservative now that all the conservatives in office say so.
Maybe those who consider themselves real old school libertarians and real old school conservatives can enjoy themselves in historic reenactments the way civil war buffs and fans of 19th century baseball do.
They're convinced THIS TIME it will be different. THIS TIME people will blame Obama!
Heck, Frank … that's the thing. By election time, enough people had stopped blaming the Republicans for the shutdown, and had turned to blaming the mess on "Washington" and incumbents everywhere, that the GOP was able to win almost all of the federal elections. The GOP not only didn't pay a price – but they got to turn all the dysfunction and broken government stuff around and use it against the Democrats. And it worked! So the GOP radicals are enboldened. They are going to keep doing this, keep making their base happy in the immediate term, and keep the passion plays and shutdowns and Benghazi investigations going. And then come election time they will count on running a lot of Corey Gardner style smiley moderate advertisements to swing a few percentages their way. That's the way the GOP keeps winning. Why should they stop?
Sadly, you're right but it's because the Dems keep letting them get away with it by dropping the subject and going for the "we're the party of holding hands and singing" thing. With positions reversed Rs would never let the public forget what the Dems did for a second. They're still harping on Benghazi even though every one of their own panels and committees has found no "there" there. You can bet it will be a prominent feature if they wind up campaigning against HRC. Heck, they're still sticking with the same implications that Obama is alien, Muslim not a real American, doesn't love his country that they've been going with since 2008. Nobody's going to forget any of their beefs with the Obama administration or Dems in general. You'd think Dems would have learned a thing or two about effective messaging by now but …. not so much.
Do you think this helps the GOP standing with the public in general? I get your point that in Congressional districts like CO CD 5, it does not hurt. In fact, it probably does get those people amped up.
But in that dwindling number of "competitive" districts, I don't think it helps them. That's why many of those GOP freshmen who were elected into northeastern and midwest districts were freaking out over this. (Hell, if we Dems could run an effective campaign against him, Coffman should be nervous.)
Unfortunately that's a big "if". If past performance is any indication, Dems will do nothing to make sure this isn't forgotten. So it will be.
I do think it's really wierd when Doug Lamborn, Steven King and Louie Gohmert vote the same way on a bill as Diana DeGette, Nancy Pelosi and Maxine Waters.
Looks like it's Everybody Bail Out Boehner night.
Reid and McConnell agreed to a 7-day extension and the Senate passed it on a voice vote. Pelosi says she's behind the 7-day extension and Dems will help to pass it, since it sounds like the Tea Partiers won't.
They're going to violate the Hastert Rule? Oh, the horror, the horror,
Looks like the original Hastert Rule is intact on this one – a majority of House Republicans voted for it. But because Boehner didn't want the extremists to come in blazing with amendments, it was passed under suspension of the rules, which takes a 2/3 majority. the final vote was 357-60.
Rumor has it that Boehner promised Dems a vote on the clean bill if the Senate rejected a conference committee, which it is expected that they will do if they don't first see a vote on their bill. Boehner is now out denying any deal is in place.
Boehner is denying any deal is in place? You know how to get the truth out of him? Give him more Merlot.
Déjà vu? Nothing to see here…move along.
Republicans say that government doesn't work then work over time to make sure their claims are true. What weird people.
They sure like the perks of being elected to the government though, don't they?
If Lamborn votes to shut down DHS next week, it's going to impact salaries in the Springs big time. Of course, Lamebrain isn't known for thinking things through.