Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By richards on February 27, 2015

House conservatives say DHS funding lapse is OK if it puts pressure on Obama immigration order

WASHINGTON (AP) - Republican leaders eager to avert a partial government shutdown are getting heat from conservative colleagues who ask what the fuss is all about.

Numerous House Republicans say it's preferable to let the Homeland Security Department go unfunded for a few days, at least, if that's the cost of undoing a White House immigration policy they consider unlawful. These lawmakers say the impact on national security would be minimal, as would the political risks.

"Shutting down" the agency known as DHS "is a set of words that don't really have the meaning that people attribute to it," said Republican Rep. Mo Brooks of Alabama. "There was hardly any effect whatsoever on the Department of Homeland Security from the last shutdown, and I would anticipate a similar effect this time."

Brooks was referring to the 2013 partial federal government shutdown that Americans blamed mostly on Republicans, and which many GOP leaders have vowed not to repeat.

Republican Rep. Steve King of Iowa was equally dismissive.

Israeli leader defiantly fights against looking Iran nuke deal, despite heated spat with Obama

JERUSALEM (AP) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heads to Washington next week on a last-gasp effort to seal what he hopes will become his signature achievement: preventing Iran from attaining a nuclear weapon. But the centerpiece of the visit, a much-hyped speech to Congress arguing against the international community's emerging nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic, has been overshadowed by a damaging battle with the White House and electoral intrigue back home.

By accepting a back-door invitation from House Speaker John Boehner that bypassed the White House, Netanyahu has inserted himself into the heart of the bitter U.S. partisan divide and seen his already troubled relations with President Barack Obama's administration reach a new low. In exceptionally harsh language, the U.S. national security adviser, Susan Rice, has called the speech "destructive."

At home, Netanyahu is being accused of cynically turning the speech into a campaign stop ahead of March 17 elections, insisting on confronting Obama to distract from scandals and domestic issues dogging his re-election bid. The uproar has even pushed aside debate over his key argument that Iran's nuclear weapons-making capabilities will be left largely intact.

Originally posted here:
AP News in Brief at 5:58 a.m. EST - Quincy Herald-Whig | Illinois & Missouri News, Sports

Category: Jewish American Heritage Month
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