WASHINGTON — Several Republican governors are urging GOP congressional leaders to stand firm next week in opposing legislation funding the Department of Homeland Security if it doesn’t also overturn President Barack Obama’s executive action on immigration.
Governors in both parties meeting in Washington this weekend warned of economic and security concerns should Congress fail to resolve its latest budget standoff. The agency’s $40 billion budget runs out Friday, giving federal lawmakers only a few days to reach an agreement once they return from recess this week.
Homeland Security funding “is very important to not only our nation, but to our individual states because of our military installations — especially at a time that there are so many threats around the world with ISIS and other terrorist groups,” said Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin, a Republican. “We hope that Congress will be able to find a resolution to get DHS funding passed, but we also know there are concerns and questions about immigration and the president’s powers.”
While some call for compromise, a handful of high-profile Republicans charged that stopping what they see as Obama’s unconstitutional power grab might be as important as resolving the funding dispute.
The Obama administration last week put on hold plans to shield more than 4 million immigrants living in the country illegally from deportation after a federal judge in Texas temporarily blocked the effort the day the program was scheduled to begin. Twenty-six states, led by Texas, filed suit in December arguing that the president does not have the authority to allow the groups of immigrants to legally stay and work in the United States. The White House is appealing the ruling.
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, who is weighing a Republican presidential bid, said the court ruling “vindicates the efforts of the Congress to use the power of the purse to prevent the administration from doing what the Constitution does not permit them to do.”
Pence said he’s “strongly urging” the Senate to support a House-passed bill that funds the DHS but also undoes Obama’s immigration actions.
Another Republican White House prospect, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, suggested that while compromise might be possible, Republicans “need to be aggressive in pushing back on” the president’s immigration plans.
The stakes are high for millions of immigrants in the country illegally and the political fortunes of both parties heading into a presidential election.
“We’re talking about people’s paychecks. We’re talking about people’s lives,” said Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat who also serves as chairman of the National Governors Association, of a budget impasse. “It is going to affect our states, and it’s going to affect every state in the country.”
Congress has little time to resolve the dispute before the DHS budget runs out Friday.
A department shutdown would have a limited impact on national security. Most workers across agencies fall into exempted categories of workers who perform work considered necessary to protect human life and property and would stay on the job in a shutdown.
