So much for his big stick.
Congressional Republicans don't have
many good options for getting out of the mess they've made over Homeland Security funding, so they've apparently decided to do nothing. House Speaker John Boehner
appeared on Fox News Sunday and told Chris Wallace he's "certainly" prepared to let the funding lapse.
"The House has done its job under the Constitution," he said. "It's time for the Senate to do their job." […]
Boehner moved Sunday to shift blame for a potential DHS shutdown to Democrats in the Senate, who are standing firm against GOP efforts to undo Obama’s immigration executive action.
Boehner is apparently, once again, giving in to extremists in his caucus who
think a little shutdown is a good idea.
"I'm just not that scared of sticking to principles and filling campaign promises that we made back home, irrespective of what leadership tells us to do here," said Rep. Curt Clawson (R-Fla.).
"It's worth having this fight," said Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.).
There are Republicans who think this is a mistake, like Pennsylvania's Rep. Charlie Dent, who makes a national security connection that his colleagues seem to have missed, saying "I think a shutdown would be a huge mistake for a whole host of reasons, especially given the fact we have ISIS on the march and terrorism again in Europe." That's not a message Boehner is interested in hearing. He's decided to shift the problem to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell rather than deal with his own caucus.
Meanwhile, funding runs out on February 27, and both the House and the Senate are taking this week off in recognition of Presidents Day.
