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 Hurdles remained, with conservative Republicans in the House of
Representatives still opposed, and procedural negotiations
threatening to delay final votes beyond a Friday funding deadline
for the Department of Homeland Security.
The super-agency was set up after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to
coordinate domestic efforts on combating security threats, such as
those recently made by Somali-based Islamic militants against U.S.
shopping malls. Homeland Security encompasses the Coast Guard and
Transportation Security Administration as well as border,
immigration and several other federal agencies.
A measure to fund the agency with $39.7 billion became the
flashpoint in a fight by Republicans against Democratic President
Barack Obama's recent executive order lifting the threat of
deportation for millions of undocumented immigrants.
House Republicans approved a funding bill, but added provisions that
would ban spending on Obama's immigration order, triggering weeks of
partisan deadlock.
 In a 98-2 vote on Wednesday, the Senate cleared the way to strip out
the House's immigration provisions. Some of these would be voted on
separately under the plan designed by Senate Republican Leader Mitch
McConnell to end the deadlock.
BIPARTISAN SENATE SUPPORT
The Senate's overwhelming support for McConnell's approach signaled
to the House that there is strong bipartisan support for drama-free
funding of Homeland Security. But McConnell was still negotiating to
try to speed up the process.
"I will offer a clean substitute and work to expedite consideration
of the bill as amended to get it back over to the House this week,"
McConnell said on the Senate floor.
Democrats had insisted all along on a "clean" Homeland Security
bill, free of the immigration restrictions, and Obama had threatened
to veto the House-passed measure.
But House Speaker John Boehner, under pressure from restive
conservatives in his party to fight Obama on immigration, declined
to say if he would put a clean bill to a House vote.
With the midnight Friday deadline approaching, Boehner told
reporters he would make no decision on McConnell's plan until the
Senate acts, adding: "We're in a wait-and-see mode."
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Acceptance of the Senate plan would amount to capitulation and a
loss of leverage on immigration, some House conservatives said,
despite a federal judge's order in Texas last week to block the
department from implementing Obama's orders.
"We're standing firm not to pass a clean DHS" bill, said
Representative Tim Huelskamp, a Kansas conservative.
'GAME OF CHICKEN'
Should funding run out, Homeland Security would be forced to
furlough about 30,000 employees, or 15 percent of its workforce.
Essential personnel, such as airport and border security agents,
would stay on the job, but would not be paid until new funding is
approved.
Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson and some of his predecessors
pleaded at a news conference for Congress to swiftly pass the
funding bill.
"What I don’t think makes sense is to hold the entire set of
operations of the Department of Homeland Security in abeyance as a
hostage as the legislative branch starts to play a game of chicken
with the president," said former Secretary Michael Chertoff, who
served under Republican President George W. Bush.
A cut-off in funds also would suspend grants to states to support
local counter-terrorism activities.
"This is not the time to engage in activities that would threaten
our counterterrorism capabilities ... and effectively to hold our
counterterrorism agencies hostage to political machinations in
D.C.," New York Police Commissioner Bill Bratton told a news
conference.
(Additional reporting by Richard Cowan, Susan Cornwell, Lisa Lambert
and Susan Heavey; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Grant McCool)
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