Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, to nobody’s surprise, on Thursday recommended that President Barack Obama veto a spending bill for the Department of Homeland Security if it passes Congresses with language blocking the administration’s executive actions aimed reforming the nation’s immigration system.
“Recent world events—the terrorist attacks in Paris, Ottawa, Sydney, and elsewhere, along with the public calls by terrorist organizations for attacks on Western objectives—call for increased vigilance in homeland security,” Johnson said in a statement. “In these times, the budget of the Department of Homeland Security cannot become a political volleyball.”
Johnson’s statement follows the House’s passage on Wednesday of a nearly $40 billion appropriations bill for DHS that contains several amendments designed to defund Obama’s executive actions announced in November on fixing the immigration system. The House vote was largely along party lines and the amendments are in line with Republican sentiment that the president’s executive actions provide amnesty for immigrants currently in the United States illegally. Congressional Republicans have said they want the focus to be on border security.
Johnson stated that DHS is currently operating under a continuing budget resolution through Feb. 27, preventing it from funding key initiatives such as new state and local grants, and additional resources for border security and the Secret Service. He also said that aviation security and federal facility protection missions are being hampered.
“I respectfully urge Congress to pass an appropriations bill for DHS as soon as possible, free of politically-charged amendments to defund our executive actions,” Johnson stated.
The Republican leadership in the Senate has not said when it will take up the DHS spending bill.