Va. Republicans press Dem senators to drop DHS filibuster

GOP members of the Virginia congressional delegation urged their state’s Democratic senators, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, to “reconsider” legislation that funds the Department of Homeland Security but revokes President Obama’s executive actions on immigration.

The Senate will vote for a fourth time on Monday to proceed to the House-passed DHS funding bill that keeps the department funded through September but freezes the president’s unilateral actions to shield certain illegal immigrants from deportation. It is expected to fall short of the necessary 60 votes to advance, just like the other three failed Senate votes this month.

{mosads}In a Monday letter to Warner and Kaine, the eight House Republican members of the Virginia delegation called on the two senators to at least allow debate on the bill.

“As representatives of a state whose rich history is intrinsically entwined with our nation’s founding, we regard the president’s recent action as an affront on our power as legislators, and, by extension, the representation promised to our constituents by our founding fathers,” they wrote. “To that end, we believe that to filibuster a funding bill to protect such action is wrong and profoundly undemocratic.”

The Virginia Republicans further pointed out that Warner had previously said that on “a big issue like immigration, the best way to get a comprehensive solution is to take this through the legislative process.”

DHS funding expires Friday at midnight.

Two other state delegations have pressured their Democratic senators to “reconsider” their votes against the House-passed DHS funding bill. Missouri Republicans penned a missive to Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) last week, as did Indiana Republicans to Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.) earlier this month.