With former-Sen. Scott Brown nipping at her heels in the midterm election, New Hampshire Democrat Sen. Jeanne Shaheen came out against President Obama’s executive amnesty. In September, she was even one of five Democrats to vote for a motion from Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) intended to block Obama from moving ahead with the action.
Now that she’s on the other side of the election, however, Shaheen is leading Democrats in the fight to defend executive amnesty.
Shaheen, along with the top Democratic senator on the Appropriations Committee, today introduced a “clean” Department of Homeland Security funding bill, one that rescinds any funding restrictions on the immigration order included in a House-passed version of the bill.
Senate Democrats have also all signed a letter supporting a clean bill – one that would fund executive amnesty – and Politico reports they are likely to block the House bill from even coming up for debate with a filibuster.
As noted by Heritage Action, last year at least ten Democratic senators expressed concern about Obama’s executive order. Now they are all lining up to defend it.
Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-IN) said: “the president shouldn’t make such significant policy changes on his own.”
Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) said: “our immigration system is broken, and I support a comprehensive plan to fix it, but executive orders aren’t the way to do it.”
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) said: “I disagree with the President’s decision to use executive action to make changes to our immigration system.”
Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) said: “I’m disappointed the president decided to use executive action.”
Sen. Angus King (I-ME) said he had: “constitutional concerns about where prosecutorial discretion ends and unconstitutional executive authority begins.”
Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), the head of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said he would “prefer” that Congress act rather than the president.
Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) said: “I have concerns about executive action.”
Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) said: “A big issue like immigration, the best way to get a comprehensive solution is to take this through the legislative process.”
Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE) said: “If I were the president, what I’d say to the Congress — House, Senate, Democrat or Republican — I’m going to give you a little bit of time and in the new Congress expect you to do something.”
But with the election in the rear-view mirror, those concerns have all but disappeared.
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