Senate GOP could vote Friday on ‘clean’ DHS funding

by Rebecca Shabad - 02/26/15 3:41 PM ET

The Senate could have a final vote as early as Friday on a measure funding the Homeland Security Department through September.

Senate Republicans say they’re unaware of objections in their conference that could prolong the fight.

{mosads}The House would then have less than 24 hours to act on the measure and prevent a shutdown of the agency, which would begin Saturday. House Republicans are considering several shorter-term measures that would fund the department for a week or a month.

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), one of the most vocal GOP critics of President Obama’s executive actions on immigration, had voiced opposition to the plan to move a bill stripped of language striking down the White House’s actions.

But he suggested Thursday he won’t hold up the bill.

“I don’t look to have any unnecessary delays in this process. I’ll just leave it at that,” Sessions told reporters after a lunch with his GOP conference.

Sessions didn’t completely rule out a procedural objection.

“Well, we’ll see. I’d like to see what kind of [unanimous consent] we’re looking at,” he said.

He added, however, that he thinks it’s “appropriate to move forward with the bill.”

“I’m not happy with them, but I’m not interested in delay for merely the sake of delay,” he said.

Sessions added that he’s “not aware of any” Senate Republicans who wish to block the bill.

Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) told reporters that GOP leaders are still figuring out the sequencing of votes on the DHS funding bill and a proposal from Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) to defund Obama’s 2014 immigration actions.

“I think there’s a plan to have multiple votes that could start as early as this evening. If time is yielded back, then we can have all of the votes dealt with by tomorrow, but if not, it could stretch throughout next week,” said Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “I know of no one on our side who wishes for that to occur.”

A memo from Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) office earlier in the day indicated the final vote on the funding bill in the Senate could happen as late as Sunday if the process drags out.

House Republicans plan to huddle behind closed doors Thursday evening to discuss their next steps on funding DHS.

Republicans have already begun preparing short-term funding measures, known as continuing resolutions, just in case they need one to prevent a shutdown.

Tags DHS Homeland security Immigration Jeff Sessions Senate