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 The Senate failed for a fourth time to advance a $39.7 billion
bill to fund the agency that includes Republican-authored provisions
to block President Barack Obama's recent immigration orders.
Senate Democrats blocked the measure and repeated their call for a
"clean" bill free of immigration restrictions. Funding for the
department, which spearheads domestic counterterrorism efforts and
secures U.S. borders, will be cut off at midnight on Friday unless
Congress renews it.
After the failed vote, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell
unveiled a stand-alone bill to block the president's November 2014
order lifting the threat of deportation against millions of
undocumented immigrants.
The stand-alone immigration measure would almost certainly face a
similar fate in the Senate as the spending bill, and draw a similar
veto threat from Obama.
 While the path forward for Homeland Security remains unclear,
several Republican senators said a stop-gap funding extension of one
or two months, called a continuing resolution (CR), was under
discussion and they would likely support it.
That would allow the department to continue full operations and pay
its 230,000 employees while a federal court challenge to Obama's
immigration actions plays out.
"I think it’s possible that we will be voting on a short-term CR,
but again, that’s not my preferred alternative," said Senator James
Risch, an Idaho Republican. "I’d like to get this resolved through
the end of the fiscal year and then we can move on to other things."
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If Homeland Security spending is cut off, the department's essential
protective staff would stay on the job, but there would be no money
to pay them until new funding is approved.
Obama warned state governors on Monday that would mean pay would be
suspended for more than 100,000 border patrol, port inspection and
airport security agents.
"It will have a direct impact on your economy, and it will have a
direct impact on America's national security because their hard work
helps to keep us safe," Obama said.
The path forward for the stalled funding bill may ultimately rest
with House Speaker John Boehner, who is scheduled to meet with
fellow House of Representatives Republicans on Wednesday.
(Additional reporting by Roberta Rampton and Richard Cowan; Editing
by John Whitesides, David Gregorio and Lisa Shumaker)
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