Homeland Security chief: Budget stall muddies IS response
The possible shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security threatens the Obama administration's efforts to counter the extremist appeal of the Islamic State group within the US and to respond with emergency aid to communities struggling with winter snowstorms, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson warned on Sunday.
Funding for the department's $40 billion budget ends on Friday, and no solution is in sight for Congress to take action by then. The fight is over President Barack Obama's immigration plan. A House-passed bill would fund the department through Sept. 30 and overturn Obama's move to limit deportations for millions of immigrants in the United States illegally. But the Senate is stalemated. "It's absurd that we're even having this conversation about Congress' inability to fund Homeland Security in these challenging times," Johnson said.
