By Byron Tau
WASHINGTON--The White House, in a standoff with Congress over
funding the Department of Homeland Security, will try to keep the
heat on lawmakers this week by playing up the department's role in
combating terrorism and violent extremism.
The Obama administration this week is convening a three-day
summit on international and domestic efforts to combat violent
extremism, with speakers including Mr. Obama, Secretary of State
John Kerry and Homeland Security Chief Jeh Johnson. The event comes
in the wake of gruesome executions by Islamic State militants and
attacks in Paris and now Copenhagen.
Congressional Republicans have tried to tie Homeland Security
funding to a rollback of some of Mr. Obama's domestic immigration
policies. With Congress having left town for a 10-day recess,
lawmakers have only a handful of working days to resolve the
funding impasse before the department, known as DHS, runs out of
money on Feb. 27.
A shutdown wouldn't affect many of the core functions of the
department, which guards the nation's borders and enforces
immigration law, but thousands of employees classified as
nonessential would be furloughed. The department's 200,000
essential employees, including border-patrol agents, customs
officials and Transportation Security Administration screeners,
would be working without a paycheck, at least for the time
being.
House Speaker John Boehner said over the weekend he is
"certainly" willing to allow funding to lapse in less than two
weeks over the immigration question. The Ohio Republican called on
Senate Democrats to act on funding legislation the House passed
this year and saying that his chamber wouldn't bring up an
alternative plan.
"The House has acted," Mr. Boehner said Sunday on Fox. "We've
done our job. Senate Democrats are the ones putting us in this
precarious position."
Senate Democrats have blocked the House bill in repeated
procedural votes, saying they are holding out for a funding bill
without any immigration provisions. The White House has threatened
to veto any bill that unwinds Mr. Obama's immigration measures.
"We shouldn't be playing politics with the agency's funding,"
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D., N.H.) said in a statement on Monday.
GOP leaders set up the standoff over Homeland Security in
December when they extended the agency's funding only through
February, while funding the rest of the government through
September. Many conservatives hoped holding up approval of
department funding would keep Mr. Obama from enacting his plan to
offer millions of illegal immigrants a haven from deportation and a
chance to apply for work permits.
Administration officials have said a funding lapse would imperil
the livelihoods of federal law enforcement over a political
dispute. "I don't see exactly how Congress is going to resolve
this," White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough said on CBS on
Sunday.
But, he said, "law-enforcement officials associated with
defending our borders, protecting us against cyberattacks,
defending our airports and making sure that airlines and aviation
security is upheld" shouldn't have to work without pay.
A senior administration official on Monday described this week's
summit as a chance to have a nonpartisan conversation around
crucial security issues. "DHS is an important player and has been a
strong partner in these efforts," the official said.
Kristina Peterson contributed to this article.
Write to Byron Tau at byron.tau@wsj.com
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