Republican plan to thwart immigration reform takes hit from Belgian anti-terror raid

[pampango]

House GOP plan to tie immigration to counter-terrorism spending could stall as Senate Republicans appear wary and Belgium raid underscores security concerns

A House Republican plan to defeat Barack Obama on immigration by tying the issue to counter-terrorism spending showed signs of stalling on Thursday, as Senate Republicans hesitated to back the strategy and a lethal anti-terror raid in Belgium underscored security concerns.

The House attached amendments attacking the president’s immigration reforms – including those meant to protect migrant children – to a bill passed on Wednesday to fund the Department of Homeland Security. The White House has said it would veto any legislation carrying the immigration amendments.

For the bill to get as far as the president, however, the Republican majority in the Senate would first have to decide to take a hardline vote on immigration. Asked on Thursday about the leadership’s intentions, Senator John Thune, the chairman of the Republican conference, turned the conversation to the importance of funding national security programs.

One path forward for the Senate GOP would be to strip the bill of the immigration amendments, vote to fund homeland security and return the legislation to the House. Speaker John Boehner would then be left to try to corral his caucus before a 27 February cutoff in homeland security funding imposed by the last Congress.

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jan/15/republican-plan-immigration-fatal-belgium-terror-raid

Congressional republicans efforts to defund DHS in order to reverse Obama liberal immigration moves may be the political equivalent of shooting themselves in the foot.