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Congress okays 1-week bill to keep Homeland Security open

 
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif., accompanied by House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer of Md., voice their objections to the Republican majority during a delay in voting for a short-term spending bill for the Homeland Security Department that would avert a partial agency shutdown hours before it was to begin, Friday, Feb. 27, 2015, during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. [Associated Press]
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif., accompanied by House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer of Md., voice their objections to the Republican majority during a delay in voting for a short-term spending bill for the Homeland Security Department that would avert a partial agency shutdown hours before it was to begin, Friday, Feb. 27, 2015, during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. [Associated Press]
Published Feb. 28, 2015

WASHINGTON — Bordering on dysfunction, Congress passed a one-week bill late Friday night to avert a partial shutdown of the Homeland Security Department, as leaders in both political parties quelled a revolt by House conservatives furious that the measure left President Barack Obama's immigration policy intact.

The final vote of a long day and night was a bipartisan 357-60 in the House, a little more than an hour after the Senate cleared the measure without a roll call.

That sent the legislation to the White House for Obama's signature, and capped a day of bruising political battles and rhetoric.

"You have made a mess," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said at one point to Republicans, as recriminations filled the House chamber and the midnight deadline neared for a partial shutdown of an agency with major antiterrorism responsibilities.

Even some Republicans readily agreed. "There are terrorist attacks all over world and we're talking about closing down Homeland Security. This is like living in world of crazy people," tweeted Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., a former chairman of the Homeland Security Committee.

Hours after conservatives joined with Democrats to vote down a three-week funding measure, 224-203, the Senate presented a one-week alternative to keep the agency open.

That amounted to a take-it-or-leave it offer less than three hours before the deadline.

This time, Pelosi urged her rank-and-file Democrats to support the measure, saying it would lead to passage next week of a bill to fund the agency through the Sept. 30 end of the budget year without immigration add-ons. Aides to Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, promptly said there had been no such promise made.

Taken together, the day's roller-coaster events at the Capitol underscored the difficulty Republicans have had in translating last fall's election gains into legislative accomplishment — a step leaders say is necessary to establish the party's credentials as a responsible, governing party. Republicans gained control of the Senate in November's balloting, and emerged with their largest House majority in more than 70 years.

For their part, tea party conservatives in the House unflinchingly defended their actions. "It does not make any difference whether the funding is for three weeks, three months or a full fiscal year. If it's illegal, it's illegal," said Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala.

He referred to a pair of immigration directives issued by Obama. The first, in 2012, lifted the threat of deportation from many immigrants brought to the country illegally as youngsters. Another order last fall applied to millions more who are in the United States unlawfully.