Jeh Johnson: Obama should veto anti-amnesty budget bills

Urging that his agency not become “a political volleyball,” Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said he would recommend the president veto any budget bill that includes efforts to overturn Mr. Obama’s executive actions on immigration.

A bill to provide nearly $40 billion in funding to the agency passed the House Wednesday, but Republicans have tacked on an amendment designed to overturn many of President Obama’s executive actions on immigration.

“Regrettably, the bill was then amended on the House floor to include politically-charged language to defund our executive actions to fix the broken immigration system,” Mr. Johnson said.

“Recent world events — the terrorist attacks in Paris, Ottawa, Sydney and elsewhere, along with the public calls by terrorist organizations for attacks on Western objectives — call for increased vigilance in homeland security,” Mr. Johnson continued. “In these times, the budget of the Department of Homeland Security cannot become a political volleyball.”

Republicans had threatened to withhold funding for the department — which includes many border security agencies — in an effort to overturn several of the president’s executive actions granting leniency to illegal immigrants. Following the terrorist attacks in Paris, the GOP shifted tactics to passing funding for DHS but adding the amendment that addresses the president’s actions, which they view as unconstitutional.