McConnell says will act on funding bill, immigration separately

[February 25, 2015]  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the top Republican in the chamber, said on Tuesday he has spoken to Democrats to seek cooperation on a bill to fund the U.S. Department of Homeland Security through September with no extra provisions attached.

Lawmakers have struggled to fund the department because Republicans wanted to attach language to any spending bill that would block President Barack Obama's recent immigration actions.

McConnell said he was willing to move forward with a clean funding bill. He said he planned to hold a separate vote on Friday on a bill to block the immigration actions, and he wants Democrats to allow that effort to proceed.

(Reporting by David Lawder and Emily Stephenson; Editing by Mohammad Zargham)

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