House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) briefly revisited the Department of Homeland Security funding fight — a battle that saw, much to the chagrin of many in his caucus, Congress fund the department without any restrictions on President Obama’s executive amnesty earlier this month.
“I believe that the Department of Homeland Security needed to remain open,” Boehner explained to reporters Tuesday morning. “And I understand the frustration that I have and all my members have and our constituents, with regard to the President’s executive overreach, his unconstitutional actions.”
According to Boehner, while many Republicans wanted to use the DHS bill to combat Obama’s executive action, they could not allow the department to shut down.
“[S]hutting down the Department of Homeland Security was not a way to get to the answer there,” he said.
Boehner further argued that while the House initially won the fight, because the effort failed in Senate, lawmakers could not allow the department to shut down.
“We won the fight in the House, the problem is we didn’t win the fight the Senate,” he said. “It was time to move on and frankly I’m happy we did.”