After Passing Clean DHS Bill, Senate Dems Block Bill To Roll Back Executive Amnesty

Senate Democrats blocked consideration of a bill that would have prevented funding for President Obama’s most recent executive amnesty.

By a vote of 57-42, Democrats blocked Sen. Susan Collins’ bill from coming to the floor for debate. Sixty votes were needed to proceed.

Democratic Sens. Joe Donnelly (D-IN), Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), and Joe Manchin (D-WV) were the only Democrats to join with Republicans in the vote on the motion to proceed.

The Democratic filibuster came after the GOP-controlled Senate passed a “clean” Department of Homeland Security funding bill, or one free of the House-passed provisions that would have blocked the executive actions.

After weeks of a Democrat filibuster of the House-passed DHS funding bill, which contains anti-amnesty riders the Democrats oppose, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) agreed to move on a “clean” appropriations bill to be followed by Collins’ legislation, that would just defund Obama’s November 20 executive amnesty but leave the administrations’ Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (program) DACA in place.

Speaking before the DHS funding vote Monday, McConnell called on Democrats who once said they opposed Obama’s executive amnesty to vote for the bill.

The bill “provides Democrats who led their constituents to believe they’d address executive overreach with a chance to show they were at least a little bit serious,” McConnell said.

He went on to call on Democrats to “help us pass a sensible bill from Senator Collins that would hold the executive branch to account. After so many weeks of senseless filibustering, that’s the least these Democrats owe their constituents.”

Despite the appeal, Republicans were unable to amass the 60 votes needed to bring the Collins bill to the floor.

Following the vote, Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn of Texas said the Senate would continue to push back against Obama’s executive amnesty.

“We will continue to fight to stop the President’s illegal, unilateral changes to immigration policy, standing with the American people and fighting for the Rule of Law in the face of the President’s lawlessness,” he said in a statement.