Poll: Blame for DHS Shutdown Would Fall to GOP
If a spending bill is not passed by Feb. 28, the agency’s funding will run out.
A majority says a shutdown at DHS, even if it’s just for a few days, would be a crisis or a major problem. Republicans are less likely to see a shutdown as a big problem, 46 percent say so compared with 66 percent among Democrats. Among all adults, slightly fewer see a DHS shutdown as a problem or crisis than said so in November when asked about a possible shutdown of the whole government, 55 percent now vs. 59 percent in that poll.
As in November, this shutdown threat has more to do with immigration policy than with budgetary concerns.
House Republicans have been sparring with their Senate counterparts over whether a bill to continue the agency’s funding should also reverse Obama’s executive actions on immigration, which shielded millions of undocumented immigrants from deportation. The House has already passed a bill to fund DHS which includes a provision to undo Obama’s actions, but Senate Democrats have blocked attempts to bring the bill to a vote and some Senate Republicans have spoken out against dealing with both issues in one bill.