McConnell blocks bill to temporarily reopen DHS

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) blocked a House-passed bill to temporarily reopen the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) with the partial shutdown in its 32nd day.

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) tried to take up the House bill, which would fund the department through Feb. 8. 

{mosads}McConnell, however, objected. Under Senate rules any one member can try to pass a bill, but any one member can also block that request. 

McConnell has said for weeks that he won’t take up the House legislation, arguing it would be a “show” vote because President Trump won’t sign the bill. 

Instead, the GOP leader is expected to hold a procedural vote Thursday that would trade $5.7 billion for wall funding in exchange for a three-year extension of legal protections for some immigrants.

“The opportunity to end all this is staring us right in the face. That’s why we’ll vote on this legislation on the Senate floor this week. All that needs to happen is for our Democratic colleagues to agree that it’s time to put the country ahead of politics, take yes for an answer and vote to put this standoff behind us,” McConnell said from the Senate floor earlier on Tuesday. 

But the president’s proposal is not expected to get the 60 votes needed to pass the Senate, much less be approved by the House where Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has called it a “non-starter.”

 

McConnell said as recently as last week that in order to get a Senate vote a bill would need to have both the backing of Democrats and Trump. 

 

It’s the fourth time McConnell has blocked the House’s DHS bill. He’s also blocked legislation three times that would reopen the other departments and agencies, besides DHS, that are currently shuttered because of the partial shutdown and fund them through Sept. 30. 

 

The partial government shutdown, currently in its 32nd day, has forced roughly a quarter of the government to close and approximately 800,000 federal employees to be furloughed or work without pay.