WASHINGTON -- Relying mostly on Democrats and over the opposition of all of Georgia's Republicans, the U.S. House passed a bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security through September without striking back at President Barack Obama's immigration actions.
There was not the high drama of Friday night on the House floor, as Speaker John Boehner followed what Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell did last week: Pass what the Democrats want, along with a few moderate Republicans and leadership allies.
Georgia Republicans in the House and Senate universally demanded some sort of attack on Obama's immigration plans, but the fight set up at the end of last year with the "CRomnibus" bill ended with Republicans gaining nothing.
Rep. Doug Collins, R-Gainesville, went along with the plan in December and was clearly frustrated in the result:
"Why is he willing to put jeopardy of the Department of Homeland Security funding on a proposal that frankly he himself has said 22 times he couldn't do. Not sure why he would want to do that, but if anybody wants to ask, I would beg somebody – anybody – to stand up at the White House press conference and ask the president why he's putting the country in this jeopardy."
There was little debate on the floor, as the vote came shortly after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's high-profile speech to Congress -- which is likely to overshadow the DHS battle in news coverage.
Georgia's House Republican newcomers did not choose this fight, but they rallied to it. Instead of pointing the finger at Boehner, they blamed the Senate. Said Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Pooler:
"When people say this is a clean bill to get funding through the end of the fiscal year, how can it be clean when you let the President of the United States trample all over the United States Constitution? How can it be clean when you let the minority party control the will of the United States Congress against the will of the American people?
"I mean, you know, if we don't stop the president now, where are we going to stop him? He's just going to continue on and on unless we stop him from trampling on our Constitution. And if we allow the minority party in the Senate to control what happens in the United States Congress against the will of the American people, we're in trouble. I mean this is ridiculous."
Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Cassville, was targeted as part of a $400,000 ad campaign by the American Action Network, a Republican-tied group trying to give Boehner cover by telling viewers to call some conservative Republicans to tell them to vote for homeland security funding.
Rep. Jody Hice, R-Monroe, who voted against a three-week DHS bill on Friday, was also on the target list. Loudermilk said his phones were flooded today, and 100 percent of the calls told him to vote no.
Still, Loudermilk said he has heard no talk of ousting Boehner:
"It wasn't the desire of the entire [Republican] conference. Many were ready to move on, let's get this behind us. So looks like it's going to be behind us now. I'm just afraid we're going to be continuing to fight this battle in a different form with something else, whether it's the debt ceiling or taxation."
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