AP
By Ken Thomas
February 21 ,2015
Several
Republican governors are urging GOP congressional leaders to stand firm
next week in opposing legislation funding the Department of Homeland
Security if it doesn’t
also overturn President Barack Obama’s executive action on immigration.
Governors
in both parties meeting in Washington this weekend warned of economic
and security concerns should Congress fail to resolve its latest budget
standoff. The agency’s
$40 billion budget runs out Feb. 27, giving federal lawmakers only a
few days to reach an agreement once they return from recess next week.
Homeland
Security funding “is very important to not only our nation, but to our
individual states because of our military installations — especially at a
time that there
are so many threats around the world with ISIS and other terrorist
groups,” said Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin, a Republican. “We hope that
Congress will be able to find a resolution to get DHS funding passed,
but we also know there are concerns and questions
about immigration and the president’s powers.”
While
some call for compromise, a handful of high-profile Republicans charged
that stopping what they see as Obama’s unconstitutional power grab may
be as important as
resolving the funding dispute. The Obama administration last week put
on hold plans to shield more than 4 million immigrants living in the
country illegally from deportation after a federal judge in Texas
temporarily blocked the effort the day the program
was scheduled to begin. Twenty-six states, led by Texas, filed suit in
December arguing that the president does not have the authority to allow
the groups of immigrants to legally stay and work in the United States.
The White House is appealing the ruling.
Indiana
Gov. Mike Pence, who is weighing a GOP presidential bid, said the court
ruling “vindicates the efforts of the Congress to use the power of the
purse to prevent
the administration from doing what the constitution does not permit
them to do.”
Pence
said he’s “strongly urging” the Senate to support a House-passed bill
that funds the Department of Homeland Security but also undoes Obama’s
immigration actions.
Another
Republican White House prospect, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, suggested
that while compromise might be possible, Republicans “need to be
aggressive in pushing
back on” the president’s immigration plans.
“I
think there’s a tremendous opportunity, particularly in light of the
win that we had in court the other day, to make a further stand here
about the president’s actions
being an overstep on immigration,” he said, noting that Wisconsin is
among the 26 states involve in the lawsuit. He said he hoped Congress
would come up with a solution that “funds Homeland Security, but
acknowledges the overstep of this president.”
Utah Gov. Gary Herbert, another Republican, said Republicans in Congress “have to get their leverage where they can.”
But
like others, he was frustrated with congressional inaction on
immigration despite repeated pleas from state leaders and business and
immigrant groups to address the
issue. “The solution is Congress: Get off your fanny and get something
done,” Herbert said.
The
stakes are high for millions of immigrants in the country illegally and
the political fortunes of both parties heading into a presidential
election.
“We’re
talking about people’s pay checks. We’re talking about people’s lives,”
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat who also serves as chairman
of the National
Governors Association, said of a budget impasse. “It is going to affect
our states, and it’s going to affect every state in the country.”
Congress has little time to resolve the dispute before the Homeland Security budget runs out Friday.
A
department shutdown would have a limited impact on national security.
Most workers across agencies, including the Secret Service,
Transportation Security Administration
and Customs and Border Protection, fall into exempted categories of
workers who perform work considered necessary to protect human life and
property and would stay on the job in a shutdown.
Most
workers would not get paid until the shutdown ends, however. And all
personnel involved in administering grants would be furloughed,
including Federal Emergency Management
Agency workers who make grants to state and local governments, fire
departments and others to help them prepare for or respond to various
threats and emergencies.
According
to a FEMA spokesman, during a lapse in funding, grants for major
disasters and emergencies would be processed only if the requests were
determined to be necessary
for the protection of life and property. FEMA could also acknowledge —
but not process — requests from governors for presidential declarations
of emergency that are not deemed necessary.
The
spokesman said that disaster recovery support for those affected by
previous disasters would also be significantly impacted, with recovery
payments for presidential
disaster declarations suspended because FEMA staff that process
payments would be furloughed.
One
possibility is a short-term extension of current funding levels, but
House Speaker John Boehner said last weekend that the House had done its
job and he would “certainly”
let a shutdown occur if the Senate didn’t act. Democrats have resisted
any Homeland Security funding bill linked to the immigration order.
Like
other Democrats, Delaware Gov. Jack Markell said the Republican-led
Congress should simply fund the Department of Homeland Security without
playing politics with
immigration.
“It’s
just like one more reflection of the dysfunction and the fact that the
Republicans came down here and said that they were going to govern
differently,” Markell said.
“And you’re back to where it was.”
Tennessee
Gov. Bill Haslam, who leads the Republican Governors Association,
likened Obama’s executive order to “throwing a hand grenade” into
efforts to adopt meaningful
immigration reform.
“I
think there’s a chance in this country to come to a real workable
solution. I think there’s enough people understanding that, ‘OK, we’re
not going to deport 12 million
people,’” Haslam said. “But citizens of all types understand there’s a
way to do government the right way.”
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