Senate Republicans will hold a fourth vote today on the House bill that would fund the Department of Homeland Security while also repealing the president's executive orders dating back to 2012.
Today's vote will almost certainly fail, again, but there is a precarious backup plan according to Senate Republican aides.
“There’s another angle we’re going to try to approach on it,” said a Senate Republican aide. “The goal is to bring up the issue of executive amnesty and have a determination of just that issue.
“We would try to have a vote on just that issue,” the aide added. “Does it have to be addressed as part of DHS, or can it be addressed separately? If we can get to that issue and have a vote on that issue, then you come back to DHS appropriations.
Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid himself, have said for several weeks that they would happy to allow the GOP the opportunity to express their desire to deport millions of immigrant students, families, and children. Why would Democrats want to prevent the GOP from doing that ahead of a presidential election?
Holding separate votes on an appropriations bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security and a bill to repeal the president's executive orders would seemingly please everyone, except it won't.
House Republicans are adamant that they will not pass another bill because, for some inexplicable reason, they believe their bill has a chance of becoming law if it passes the Senate.
Whether or not the House bill passes the Senate is immaterial as the White House has clearly stated that the president would veto the bill. House and Senate Republicans are playing grab-ass over a bill that will never become law.
And while we're on the subject, what would it cost to deport everyone that the Republican party wishes to deport? Quite a lot.
What would it cost to deport all those eligible for #immigrationaction? $50.3 BILLION https://t.co/0yfRmwUCZc pic.twitter.com/OBrKJZi2ze
— Raul M. Grijalva (@RepRaulGrijalva) February 23, 2015
In an alternative universe where the House bill has passed the Senate and the president has signed it into law, we discover that actually deporting everyone who is eligible for deferred action isn't realistic or feasible.
Unless House Republicans concede, a department shutdown will occur at the end of this week.