Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Reid, Obama expected to discuss Homeland Security funding

Harry Reid

Harry Reid

Sen. Harry Reid and President Barack Obama are expected to discuss the ongoing fight in Congress to fund the Department of Homeland Security when they meet in private today at the White House.

Congress is under a self-imposed Feb. 27 deadline to fund the agency, which oversees much of America’s homeland security programs and the president’s expansion of immigration protections to millions of undocumented immigrants.

Reid and his fellow Senate Democrats have repeatedly blocked Republican attempts to defund the president’s immigration actions in the DHS spending bill. Reid’s been joined by Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., to keep the spending bill off Obama’s desk.

On Tuesday, a federal judge in Texas added another layer of complication to the debate by temporarily halting Obama’s latest protections for undocumented immigrants.

Reid is one of the president’s closest allies on Capitol Hill, but the Nevada Democrat has had to hand over most of his daily leadership duties to other senators as he recovers from a New Year’s Day exercise accident.

Doctors have operated twice on Reid to try to restore full vision in his right eye, which was injured when an exercise band broke and catapulted him into a set of cabinets at his home in Henderson.

As he recovers at his one-bedroom apartment at the Ritz-Carlton in Washington, D.C., aides have made clear Reid is working the phones to keep in touch with the president and fellow senators.

His No. 3 deputy, Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, said last week Reid is expecting to be back in the Senate next week when lawmakers return from their President’s Day recess.

This is a developing story. Check back for more.

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