Epic Boehner Fail: House vote fails to fund DHS, shutdown looms

How many times do I have to tell you that the TanMan, Weeper of the House John Boehner, is the “Worst. Speaker. Ever.” Americans should be able to remove this incompetent fool from his position.

The Hill reports on the TanMan’s latest epic failure. Chaos in House as lawmakers reject DHS bill; shutdown nears:

A short-term funding measure to keep the Department of Homeland Security open (DHS) was defeated on Friday in a stunning vote that could result in a partial government shutdown at midnight.

The bill failed 203-224, with 51 Republicans voting against legislation that was set to fund the DHS and its associated agencies through March 19. Twelve Democrats voted for it.

The vote is a shocking defeat for Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and his leadership team, who had scrambled to bring the three-week funding bill to the floor ahead of the looming deadline.

The next steps on the funding bill are not clear, with a shutdown of the agency just hours away.

Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (Ga.), a member of the GOP whip team, said Republicans are now talking about voting on a DHS funding bill of an even shorter duration.

Republicans had bet the short-term bill could be approved with some help from Democrats. But the minority party appeared determined to force Republicans to pass it on their own, despite the White House’s signal that President Obama could support the measure.

With Democrats united against the bill, the GOP could afford to lose only 28 of its own members.

The vote began at 4:23 p.m., and was held open for 52 minutes as GOP leaders scrambled to try and flip votes to get the bill over the finish line.

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Rep. Pete King (R-N.Y.), who on Thursday said he’s “had it with this self-righteous delusional wing of the party,” stood stone-faced as the “no” votes against the CR piled up.

The vote was gaveled to a close at 5:15 p.m., with GOP leaders more than a dozen votes short of a majority.

Conservatives rallied against the three-week bill because it would do nothing to overturn Obama’s actions on immigration. They are demanding that the bill include riders to block deportation deferrals and work visas for illegal immigrants.

The Senate on Friday passed a bill funding the DHS through September that excludes the provisions reversing Obama’s immigration actions. Senate passes ‘clean’ DHS bill on a vote of 68-31.

Earlier in the day, the House voted to form a conference committee on a longer-term funding bill. That vote could prevent the House from immediately taking up the clean bill in order to avert a DHS shutdown because the Senate might need to act first on the conference committee.

But Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said Boehner still has the option of bringing up the “clean” bill passed by the Senate.

“We still have the Senate bill in our possession, we just clarified that with the parliamentarian, it hasn’t gone back yet. … The House, after voting on a conference committee report, can send it whenever it wants, and as of right now it’s still here.”

“They’ve got until midnight. … They could go up to [the] Rules [Committee] and do it in a second,” he said.

And THAT is the bill that Democrats will vote in favor of with a handful of reasonable Republicans to get it over the 218 vote threshhold. But the TanMan continues to cower in fear of his Tea Party Caucus tormentors.

Will the TanMan find a pair of cajones before midnight and bring up the Senate bill for a vote?  “HELL No he won’t!”