Obama threatens stopping paychecks to 143,000 Homeland Security employees at month's end if Republicans don't give up fight over 'amnesty' for illegal immigrants
- Obama warned GOP against holding DHS funding hostage as they fight him on sweeping immigration policy changes that he made on his own
- President said critical DHS workers will have to work without pay after February 27 if there's no deal for the department's funding
- Republicans funded the rest of the government through September but put Homeland Security on a tighter leash
- Obama moved last year to unilaterally change immigration policy and guarantee no deportations for 5 million illegal immigrants
President Barack Obama claimed on Monday that without a comprehensive budget covering the Department of Homeland Security, more than 130,000 mission-critical employees will be forced to work without pay by the end of the month.
They include 40,000 employed by Customs and Border Protection, 50,000 Transportation Security Administration screeners, 13,000 Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and 40,000 Coast Guard personnel.
Pay would be restored at the end of any withholding period.
'I know how vital you are, and I want to make sure more Americans know how vital you are,' Obama told an auditorium full of DHS employees Monday the department's headquarters, as the White House rolled out his $4 trillion budget request for 2016.
In addition, it's likely that 4,000 people who work for the Secret Service will see paychecks on hold if Obama doesn't strike a deal with Republicans in Congress.
'The men and women of America's homeland security apparatus do important work to protect us, and Republicans and Democrats in Congress should not be playing politics with them,' he added.
Republicans agreed in December to fund most of the government through September 2015, but put Homeland Security on a shorter leash in order to keep their leverage as Obama threatened to implement sweeping changes to America's immigration enforcement policy.
DHS’s funding runs out in less than four weeks, and could be stopped entirely if Obama continues to pursue his plan to give residence and work permits to 5 million or more illegal immigrants.
GOP leadership calls the plan 'executive amnesty,' and insists that Congress – not the White House – has sole authority to determine who may and may not legally stay in the United States.
The president pushed back on Monday as he rolled out the larger budget designed to get America through September 2016. That budget would add $474 billion to the national debt.
'I will not accept a budget that severs the vital links between our national security and our economic security,' Obama said.
'Those two things go hand in hand,' he insisted.
But that budget is likely dead on arrival since he is proposing higher taxes on wealthier Americans and job-creating companies.
'Like the president’s previous budgets, this plan never balances – ever,' House Speaker John Boehner said Monday morning. 'It contains no solutions to address the drivers of our debt, and no plan to fix our entire tax code to help foster growth and create jobs.'
'Worse yet, President Obama would impose new taxes and more spending without a responsible plan to honestly address the big challenges facing our country.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2936746/Obama-threatens-stopping-paychecks-143-000-Homeland-Security-employees-month-s-end-Republicans-don-t-fight-amnesty-illegal-immigrants.html#ixzz3QjbeCgfR
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