Republican senator accuses Dems of protecting Obama in DHS stalemate

Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wy.) is calling Democrats’ filibuster of a bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security is an effort to protect the Obama administration. 

“It’s time for Democrats to stop defending the president and the White House,” Barrasso, the Senate GOP policy committee chairman, said ahead of a vote to start debate on a House-passed DHS spending bill.

“It is time for Democrats to end their filibuster and to fund the Department of Homeland Security,” he continued. 

{mosads}Democrats are expected to block a fourth attempt to start debate on the funding bill. The current stalemate comes as Republicans seek to deny funding for Obama’s executive actions on immigration. But Senate Democrats want a “clean” funding bill. 

Barrasso argued that Obama’s executive actions overstepped his constitutional authority.  

“Congress is the appropriate place to make laws about America’s immigration policy,” he said. “The president cannot make a new law just because he doesn’t like the laws made by Congress.” 

U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen ruled last week to temporarily block Obama’s new immigration programs. 

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) said Monday that Hanen’s decision means the immigration provisions should be removed from bill to fund DHS and the constitutional question should be left for the courts to decide. 

“These extraneous measures should not be on this bill,” she said during a floor speech. 

The funding vote comes as al-Shabab called for terrorist attacks at malls across the country, including the Mall of America that is located in Klobuchar’s state. 

“Rather than acting to protect my state from the threat, there are people who are actively contemplating a shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security,” she said.