By Stephen Dinan – The Washington Times, reports:
Senate Republican leaders retreated on the homeland security spending fight Friday morning, voting with Democrats to delete provisions that would have stopped President Obama’s deportation amnesty in order to avoid a partial shutdown of the Homeland Security Department at midnight.
But the 66-33 vote only heightens the tension, as House Republicans remain adamant that the president’s amnesty be stopped, and say they’ll pass a short-term spending bill to keep the Homeland Security Department open for a few more weeks in the hope of working out a final agreement.
Democratic leaders, meanwhile, say they’re having none of it, insisting that the House GOP drop its objections and accept the Senate’s bill as-is.
“It must pass the Senate bill. We will not go to conference,” Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said, shortly before he led the Senate in passing the “clean” spending bill that funds the Homeland Security Department through the rest of fiscal year 2015.
