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By Matt Fuller Posted at 4:55 p.m. March 2

King. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Facing the prospect of Democratsforcinga vote on a clean Department of Homeland Security funding bill, conservatives are calling on House Republicansto adopt a resolution blocking the legislative maneuver.

Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, released a statement Monday following a Roll Call story laying out how Democrats could use House rules to get a vote on the Senate-passed DHS funding bill the one that doesnt block President Barack Obamas executive action on immigration and funds the agency through Sept. 30.

Clause 4 of Rule XXII of the House Rules provides privilege to a motion to dispose of any amendments when the stage of disagreement has been reached on a bill or resolution as soon as the Senate formally disagrees, King wrote in a rather wonky news release. The DHS appropriations bill reached the stage of disagreement in the House last Friday. The Senate is poised to act tonight. From that moment, Nancy Pelosi or any Member of the majority or the minority can make a privileged motion to fund executive amnesty through September 2015.

King notes that, under the Constitution, both chambers of Congress make their own rules. Therefore, he said, the House can change its rules by simple majority and has a duty to do so to protect the Constitution.

It is our urgent obligation to immediately amend or suspend Clause 4 of Rule XXII, he continued.

Kings proposed resolution is only one sentence long Resolved, That any motion pursuant to clause 4 ofrule XXII relating to the bill H.R. 240 may be offeredonly by the Majority Leader or his designee and it mirrors an earlier resolution the House adoptedin the first hours of the October 2013 government shutdown to block Democrats from bringing up a clean continuing resolution for the entire government.

King asserts thatRepublicans were elected on a promise to stop Obamas executive action. A single clause in a rule we have the power to change is not an excuse to fund lawlessness, he wrote. This is only a trap if we fail to act. Leaderships back is not against the wall unless they choose it to be.

Heritage Action gave CQ Roll Call a similar statement Monday afternoon, contending that GOP leaders were of course still in the drivers seat here, and, should Democrats use this tactic, Republicans would be to blame.

Continued here:
Conservatives Push Effort to Block 'Clean' DHS Bill