Congress Can't Halt Immigration Order Through Funding, Aide Says

It complicates Republicans’ plans to block President Barack Obama's executive action by choking off funds.

U.S. President Barack Obama pauses while speaking at the Democratic National Committee's (DNC) annual Women's Leadership Forum in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Friday, Sept. 19, 2014
Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

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By Erik Wasson, Heidi Przybyla and Mike Dorning

November 19, 2014 at 11:21 PM UTC

Updated on

November 20, 2014 at 10:09 PM UTC

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A split among Republicans in Congress deepened over how to block President Barack Obama’s executive order on immigration, showing party tension on whether to risk shutting down the government over the issue.

House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell say they don’t want a repeat of the October 2013 shutdown caused by a Republican bid to defund Obamacare. An appropriations aide said today Congress can’t use spending bills to defund the main immigration agency that would carry out Obama’s immigration order.