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DHS bill exposes holes in GOP’s congressional coordination

FILE - In the Feb, 13, 2015, file photo, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., left, and Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, stand together at a ceremony before the signing of the bill authorizing expansion of the Keystone XL pipeline, at the Capitol in Washington. Boehner and McConnell are facing a dilemma. After winning control of both congressional chambers, Republican leaders vowed to keep the government funded and to block President Barack Obama from overhauling immigration policies. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File) FILE - In the Feb, 13, 2015, file photo, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., left, and Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, stand together at a ceremony before the signing of the bill authorizing expansion of the Keystone XL pipeline, at the Capitol in Washington. Boehner and McConnell are facing a dilemma. After winning control of both congressional chambers, Republican leaders vowed to keep the government funded and to block President Barack Obama from overhauling immigration policies. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

By Associated Press February 25, 2015 1 min read

WASHINGTON (AP) – House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell are facing a dilemma.

After winning control of both congressional chambers, Republican leaders vowed to keep the government funded and to block President Barack Obama from overhauling immigration policies.

But Boehner and McConnell never crafted a legislative strategy to do both. And as events turned against them Tuesday, McConnell said he didn’t know how Boehner would handle the political problem headed his way.

McConnell concedes he can’t overcome Democratic filibusters to advance a House-passed bill. The bill would fund the Department of Homeland Security while also blocking Obama’s 2014 executive order to protect millions of immigrants from deportation.

Now the issues are being separated and sent to the House, where many conservatives oppose that solution.