The U.S. Congress tonight approved a one-week continuing resolution to avoid a partial shut down of the Department of Homeland Security.
Earlier today, Alaska’s two Republican senators split over a bill that would fund the department for the rest of the fiscal year. Sen. Lisa Murkowski sided with Republican leaders to pass the bill.
Sen. Dan Sullivan was among a minority of senators who voted against it, because it did not include language defunding the president’s deferred action on deportations. Sullivan said the president’s action on immigration is illegal and he said his vote against the funding bill is part of his promise to uphold the Constitution.
The U.S. House, meanwhile, rejected a measure to fund the Homeland Security Department for three more weeks. Alaska’s Congressman Don Young voted with Republican leadership in favor of the stopgap spending bill.
Liz Ruskin is the Washington, D.C., correspondent at Alaska Public Media. Reach her at lruskin@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Liz here.
