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TIME Politics Congress T.J. KirkpatrickGetty Images House Minority Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi, at center, reads a letter she sent to colleagues in congress, with Democratic leaders including, from left, Rep. Xavier Becerra, Rep. Steny Hoyer, Rep. Joseph Crowley and Rep. Rosa DeLauro at the U.S. Capitol on Feb. 27, 2015 in Washington, DC.

With just hours to go before a midnight deadline, Congress passed a one-week extension to fund the Department of Homeland Security and prevent sending 30,000 government employees home on furlough.

The vote ended a tumultuous day in the House as Republican Speaker John Boehner and his aides lost control of their right flank, failing to deliver a three-week funding measure for the department and relying instead on Democrats to pass the one-week measure to avoid a DHS shutdown.

Boehner had hoped the three-week extension would buy his conference time to figure out how to protest immigration measures put forward by President Obama last year, without shutting down DHS. But his fellow Republicans turned on the bill and it failed by a handful of votes late in the afternoon.

The Senate, led by newly elected Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, then calmly passed a one-week extension of funding for the department and sent that bill back across the Capitol to the House. After House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi spoke with Obama, House Democrats opted to vote with Boehner and the Republican leadership rather than allow funding for the department to fail.

The one-week extension in funding for DHS meant that McConnell could technically uphold his promise that there would be no government shutdowns under his leadership. But House conservatives effectively ended McConnells other major promise as leader: that the party would no longer be scary.

On the Senate side of the Capitol, the House disarray brought scorn from Democrats and Republicans alike. Hopefully were gonna end the attaching of bullshit to essential items of the government, Illinois GOP Sen. Mark Kirk, whos up for reelection in 2016, told TPM. In the long-run, if you are blessed with the majority, youre blessed with the power to govern. If youre gonna govern, you have to act responsibly.

The DHS fight originated in November, when Obama announced he would unilaterally, temporarily defer deportations up to five million immigrants who came to the country illegally. While Republicans in Congress were furious at what they called the unconstitutional action, they were faced with few good options to effectively negate Obamas executive actions.

Their best option emerged last week, when a federal judge in Texas ordered Obama to stop his action through an injunction. Still, some of the top legal experts in the country say the presidents actions are lawful. Some Republicans applauded the three-week plan put forward by Boehner Thursday night, saying that it gave time to highlight the ruling.

America should have an opportunity to understand why we object to the presidents action [and] why a federal judge found that the president didnt have the authority, said California GOP Rep. Darrell Issa. So the Speaker has offered a very reasoned way to create space in which to have that debate with the Senate.

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House Democrats Save DHS From Shutdown, Republicans From Themselves

Liberal Democrats update
News report following the Liberal Democrats update.

By: Thames News

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Liberal Democrats update - Video

As the two political parties begin to gear up for next years presidential election, the public has a more positive general image of the Democrats but trust Republicans more on specifics, a newly released survey shows.

The survey released Thursday by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center suggests an important underlying dynamic for the presidential contest:

A Republican nominee may be able to count on a presumption that he or she will be able to handle major issues, but will be challenged on empathy and tolerance, as Mitt Romney was in 2012.

The Democratic nominee may be able to take those attributes for granted, at least to some extent, but will need to reassure the public about his or her abilities on managing issues.

Large segments of the public believe each party has strong principles. Asked if either has "good policy ideas," just over half say the Democrats do and just under half say Republicans do.

But the overall images of the parties differ markedly.

About six in 10 American adults say the Democratic party cares about the middle class and is tolerant and open to all groups of people, the poll found.

By contrast, only about one-third of Americans say Republicans are tolerant and open to all, and just over four in 10 say they care about the middle class.

Half say the Republicans are too extreme, considerably more than the share -- just over one-third -- who say that about the Democrats.

But asked which party could do a better job on seven major issues, the public gives Republicans the edge on three and the Democrats on only one, the survey showed.

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Americans have more positive view of Democrats, trust GOP on issues

Washington Ohio is always big in presidential races. Its the ultimate bellwether state. Now add Ohio to the column called marquee Senate races of 2016.

Ted Strickland, the states Democratic former governor, announced Wednesday that hes running against Republican Sen. Rob Portman, a big score for the party out of power on Capitol Hill. Democrats need a net gain of five seats to retake control of the Senate, in a cycle whose map favors the Democrats.

Republicans are defending 24 seats in 2016, versus only 10 for the Democrats. Of those, 10 Republican-held seats are competitive, while two Democrat-held seats are, according to the Rothenberg & Gonzales Political Report.

Democrats are also better at turning out their base minorities, single women, and young voters in presidential election years.

Mr. Strickland is a Democratic elder statesman, with a strong statewide profile. He lost reelection to current Gov. John Kasich (R) in 2010, a tough year for Democrats, by two percentage points. Senator Portman, respected in Washington as a leader of the center-right, isnt so popular at home. Only 37 percent of Ohioans gave him positive job marks in a recent Quinnipiac poll.

Strickland is the second Democrat to enter the race to take on Portman, a sign of the incumbents vulnerability. Cincinnati Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld announced in January and has raised $500,000 so far, according to The Columbus Dispatch.

Though its only February 2015, Democrats are moving fast to fill slots in the 2016 Senate cycle. Heres a rundown:

California. California Attorney General Kamala Harris (D) declared for the Senate within days of Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxers announcement Jan. 8 that shes not running for reelection. On Tuesday, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced he wont run, leaving Ms. Harris as the early front-runner to replace Senator Boxer in solid-blue California.

A Field Poll of likely California voters released Feb. 18 shows former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice coming out on top, three percentage points ahead of Harris, but Ms. Rice says she wont run.

New Hampshire. Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R) is seen as vulnerable in this presidential tossup state, and Gov. Maggie Hassan (D) would be her partys top get if she agrees to run. An NBC News/Marist poll released Feb. 17 shows Governor Hassan beating Senator Ayotte 48 percent to 44 percent.

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Why are Democrats suddenly cheering in Ohio? (+video)

One by one, the six Democrats running for mayor of Philadelphia gave their best pitches Wednesday night to about 300 members of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, in an effort to secure the union's coveted endorsement in the May primary.

The meeting, in the sheet-metal workers' hall on Columbus Boulevard, was closed to reporters, but afterward the candidates talked about their prospects of having one of the city's largest unions on their side, and about their views on education funding, which has emerged as one of the top issues in the campaign.

"They know all of the funding does not come from the city," said PFT president Jerry Jordan, "but that there is a need for a mayor to work with the legislature and the governor in Harrisburg in order to make sure that the resources are there for our children."

His members, he said, want "someone who is honest and who will work to make sure the resources are in the classroom for them."

Most of the candidates said they told the union members they would work with Harrisburg for an equitable school-funding formula that would send more money for the district, which is facing an $80 million budget deficit for the next school year.

Some, however, said they would also try to get more money from local sources.

Former Common Pleas Court Judge Nelson Diaz said he would try to shift the tax base to increase the burden on real estate. If the wage tax is lowered, he said, more people will work here and more real estate taxes will come in.

Former District Attorney Lynne M. Abraham also discussed tax reform and how the city's fiscal decisions play a role in the school funding debate. "How we spend our money, and can we be more efficient with how we spend our money, so we can use some of the savings to give to the schools," she said.

Former city spokesman Doug Oliver said he would consider selling city assets that are not "a primary function of government." He listed the Philadelphia Gas Works, the Water Department, and Philadelphia International Airport as examples.

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Democrats running for mayor seek teachers' union backing