Rep. Tom Cole, Oklahoma Republican, predicted that the current shutdown showdown over the Department of Homeland Security is going to end with the GOP-led House approving a “clean” funding bill.
The Senate on Monday rejected further negotiations over the spending, putting the fight over a bill without provisions blocking President Obama’s executive actions on immigration back into the House’s hands.
“It’s a skillful political trap, but it’s a disappointment — there’s nothing wrong with a conference — that’s how we traditionally work out our differences,” Mr. Cole said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “That’s all we’ve asked for, and frankly, Senate Democrats haven’t been willing to do that.”
Mr. Cole said he expects a “clean” funding bill to go on the House floor and “there’ll be a significant bipartisan majority in favor of funding homeland security.”
He said he hasn’t gotten any explicit promise from leadership on that, but that it shouldn’t be a problem for Speaker John A. Boehner within the House GOP conference.
“John Boehner has fought the good fight every step of the way,” said Mr. Cole, a Boehner ally. “It’s no mystery — the president started this fight by doing something that both Speaker Boehner and Majority Leader McConnell warned him not to do. … He said it would poison the well and it has.”
He said Republicans picked up a lot of friends in the fight along the way, pointing to 26 state attorneys general suing to block the actions and predicting an injunction from a Texas judge blocking them would be confirmed this week.
“When you’ve won, every now and then it’s time that you pull your chips off the table and walk away from the game. … Some of our colleagues are having a hard time understanding that, but I think the House as a whole” does, he said.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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