By Siobhan Hughes
WASHINGTON--Senate Democrats rejected on Monday a GOP bid to
open negotiations on competing House and Senate versions of
legislation to fund the Department of Homeland Security, leaving
Republicans with dwindling options in their attempts to use the
legislation to block President Barack Obama's immigration
policies.
The 47-43 vote fell short of the 60 needed for passage and put
an end to what House Republicans had portrayed as their main hope
for salvaging legislation that includes language preventing the
implementation of orders providing millions of illegal immigrants a
temporary reprieve from deportation.
The Senate on Friday passed a funding bill without those
provisions after Democrats blocked consideration of the House bill
several times.
In a separate vote, the Senate sent its original bill back to
the House, which Republican conservatives had rejected just days
earlier. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) and Sen. John
Cornyn (R., Texas), the No. 2 Senate Republican, were among those
voting in favor.
The pair of Monday votes heightens pressure on House Speaker
John Boehner (R., Ohio) to accept the Senate's version of the bill,
which would fund the department through Sept. 30, the end of fiscal
2015. The department's funding is set to expire on Friday under a
one-week extension passed last week.
Democrats and some Republicans predict that the House will
ultimately hold a vote this week on the Senate's measure to fund
homeland security.
A spokesman for Mr. Boehner said in a statement that "we are
disappointed that Senate Democrats have once again rejected regular
order. Now, we will talk with House Republican members about the
way forward."
House Rules Committee Chairman Pete Sessions (R., Texas) said he
expected the House would "dispose of" the matter this week, and
suggested that the immigration fight is likely to be out of the
hands of Congress.
"We're going to count on the judges," Mr. Sessions said. A
federal judge in Texas last month temporarily blocked Mr. Obama's
immigration actions, saying they should have been issued in
accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act. The Obama
administration has appealed that ruling.
A budget fight this early in a new Congress is the result of
unfinished business from last year, when Republicans deferred
action on homeland-security money while agreeing to fund the rest
of the government through fiscal 2015.
Then as now, Republicans, especially in the House, were furious
over Mr. Obama's decision to give some four million illegal
immigrants the chance to apply for work permits and a temporary
reprieve from deportation. Mr. Obama also expanded a similar 2012
program for young people brought to the U.S. as children.
Republicans feel that Mr. Obama ignored not just Congress but
also voters, who rejected Democrats in the 2014 midterm elections
and gave Republicans their biggest House majority in decades.
Separately on Monday, the Internal Revenue Service confirmed it
would allow illegal immigrants benefiting from Mr. Obama's actions
to file for tax refunds for prior years, fueling an outcry from
Republicans.
The IRS explanation came in a letter from Commissioner John
Koskinen to Sen. Charles Grassley (R., Iowa). In response, Mr.
Grassley vowed to push legislation to overturn the policy.
The action allows many to obtain work permits and Social
Security numbers, which in turn would allow those who qualify to
apply for a tax break known as the Earned Income Tax Credit, the
IRS said. The credit provides cash payments to lower-income
households, even those that didn't earn enough to pay income tax,
and can be worth several thousand dollars.
John D. McKinnon contributed to this article.
Write to Siobhan Hughes at siobhan.hughes@wsj.com