UPDATE

Today in the U.S. Senate, the Democratic minority filibustered the House-approved DHS funding bill to keep it from even coming to the floor for a vote.  They did this to thwart the Republican-led attempt to remove from the bill any funding for President Obama’s illegal actions on immigration.  This sets up a new confrontation, and soon, because the appropriations to fund ongoing operations at DHS will run out at the end of February.

ORIGINAL POST

In a well-written piece at National Journal, reporter Daniel Newhauser is calling attention to the very public way in which House Speaker John Boehner is urging the Senate, and specifically Senators Ted Cruz and Jeff Sessions, to “walk the walk” and not just “talk the talk”.

Here’s an excerpt from Newhauser’s article:

“It’s time for Senator Cruz and Senator Sessions, and Senate Republicans and Senate Democrats to stand together with the American people and block the president’s actions,” Boehner told reporters Tuesday morning.

The peculiarity of Boehner name-checking Ted Cruz and Jeff Sessions cannot be overlooked.  Both have railed against Boehner and his team, particularly on immigration issues, calling on them to bring more conservative bills to the floor.  Sessions helped scuttle a border-security bill Boehner hoped to bring to the House floor last week, holding that it did not do enough to secure the border or deal with interior enforcement.  Cruz, meanwhile, was instrumental in pushing House Republicans to shut down the government in 2013 over demands that any funding legislation block implementation of Obama’s health care law.

But now the tables have been turned.  Boehner’s subtle jab at the two senators betrays an increasing frustration among House Republicans with GOP senators pushing the House to pass legislation they do not have the votes to pass in the Senate.  And if, as expected, the Senate cannot pass the House version of the DHS bill, expect House Republicans to blame Senate Republicans, now in the majority, as much as their Democratic counterparts.

“The fight is now in the Senate.  It will be won or lost there,” said a source familiar with Boehner’s thinking.  “Senators like Ted Cruz and Jeff Sessions need to show the American people how we succeed in the Senate.  What’s their plan to get ‘yes’ votes from senators like [Claire] McCaskill and [Joe] Donnelly, who’ve expressed concerns, and ultimately what’s their plan to get this passed in the Senate?”

I agree with Boehner on this one.  Ted Cruz is sometimes long on talk and short on action.  Let’s see if he can gain passage in the Senate of this vital bill.

Newhauser’s complete article is HERE.