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 That may portend more serious trouble ahead as Washington
confronts fiscal challenges on a grander scale. In five to seven
months, the federal debt ceiling will again be reached, and by
October Congress must pass spending bills to keep the government
running in the new fiscal year.
Failing to deal effectively with these issues could have much more
damaging repercussions - such as a broad government shutdown or a
debt default - than a partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland
Security (DHS).
What happens between now and then, including the handling of a
one-week extension of Homeland Security funding, will be crucial.
Some conservatives speak of ousting Boehner, but it is unlikely they
can muster enough votes, while others made clear on Friday that they
were willing to take big risks to score ideological points.
Brinkmanship like this, reminiscent of 2013's 16-day federal
government shutdown, was supposed to be over. Republican Senate
Leader Mitch McConnell said there would be no more shutdowns after
his party won control of the upper chamber and strengthened its grip
on the House last November.
Proclamations about Republicans showing they could govern soothed
financial markets, which were rattled by the 2013 shutdown and badly
shaken by 2011 budget fights that nearly resulted in an historic
government default on its debt.
 But Friday's confused late-night scramble renewed old concerns about
dysfunctional government. The House rejected a three-week funding
extension for the agency when conservatives rebelled because the
bill did not block Obama's executive orders on immigration. On a
second try late in the evening, House Democrats provided the votes
to pass a one-week extension.
The angry conservatives' embarrassing rebuke to Boehner showed they
are more fiercely determined than ever to rein in federal spending,
shrink the government and challenge Democratic President Barack
Obama on multiple fronts.
"It’s very possible that come September, you could face this again,"
said conservative Republican Representative Joe Pitts of
Pennsylvania, when asked about debt and budget fights ahead.
For small-government Tea Party activists looking to flex their
muscles after November's election victory, any attempt to borrow
beyond the $18 trillion national debt will be a red flag. Congress
also faces a Sept. 30 deadline for passing spending bills that are
certain to add to the $18 trillion debt.
Unlike the upcoming debt limit and budget issues, the DHS battle was
not about government spending, but about Obama's recent executive
actions to suspend the threat of deportation for 4.7 million illegal
immigrants.
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Still, Trent Lott, a former Senate Republican leader, said some
congressional Republicans will not be able to resist further
confrontations, especially over spending bills. "I must say, there
are going to be battles for the next two years trying to rein in
Obama’s excesses with executive power and regulations," Lott said.
More executive actions are expected from Obama in environmental and
other controversial areas. That could mean that clashes will
intensify, with many conservatives still seeing spending power as
their strongest leverage.
Some of them say pressing the immigration fight is part of a
non-negotiable duty for Congress to defend the Constitution. They
say Obama took steps to change immigration policy that only Congress
has the authority to carry out.
"This is not about immigration. This is about whether or not the
president has the ability to unilaterally run this country,
Representative Austin Scott of Georgia said in House floor debate on
Friday.
The Obama administration counters that its unilateral action on
immigration, after years of watching House Republicans block
legislation, and has many presidential precedents.
Many Republicans are concerned that such fights are an election
liability and undermine the party's ability to demonstrate it can
govern responsibly. However, similar concerns have been aired with
each successive battle.
Republican Senator Mark Kirk, who could face a tough re-election in
2016, told Reuters that his party needs to change.
Referring to the DHS fight, the Illinois senator said: "I would say
that this battle should be the end of the strategy of attaching
whatever you’re upset at the president about to a vital piece of
government."
(Editing by Stuart Grudgings and Kevin Drawbaugh)
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