Rep. Xavier Becerra, California Democrat, said Wednesday that Speaker John A. Boehner, Ohio Republican, does not want to shut down the government but that some in the GOP caucus actually do want a shutdown.
“I think Speaker Boehner does not want to shut the government down, but I believe he’s got an element in [his] Republican caucus that does,” Mr. Becerra, the House Democratic caucus chairman, said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
Republicans are currently grappling with how to fund the government past Dec. 11 while allowing members to officially respond to President Obama’s executive actions granting temporary legal status to nearly 5 million illegal immigrants in the country.
The GOP is testing the waters on a multi-pronged approach that would fund most of the government for the rest of the fiscal year but separate out homeland security funding in a separate measure that would last until early next year, when the issue could be revisited by a Congress fully controlled by Republicans.
The House would also take a largely symbolic vote on a bill from Rep. Ted S. Yoho, Florida Republican, declaring the president’s actions void.
Some conservatives, though, want the stopgap bill to bar funding for Mr. Obama’s plan. Others are pushing for more short-term funding for homeland security - through mid-January rather March - in order to confront Mr. Obama’s policies right when the new Congress is sworn in.
But Republican leaders also do not want a repeat of last year, when the GOP took the brunt of the blame for a partial shutdown of the federal government that arose from objections to President Obama’s health care law.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.