--- title: Boehner: Senate Democrats Are to Blame if Homeland Security Shuts Down description: "Senate Democrats are the ones putting us in this precarious position. It's up to Senate Democrats to get their act together," Boehner said. canonical: https://time.com/3710522/boehner-homeland-security-shut-down/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-02-15T19:53:53.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T04:26:26.208Z article:section: Politics og:title: Boehner: Senate Democrats Are to Blame if Homeland Security Shuts Down og:description: "Senate Democrats are the ones putting us in this precarious position. It's up to Senate Democrats to get their act together," Boehner said. og:url: https://time.com/3710522/boehner-homeland-security-shut-down/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd8527afa7e6f08ee/69877ed78e0601a9f545a3fb/boehner.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3217 og:image:height: 1810 og:image:alt: Republican Speaker of the House from Ohio John Boehner speaks at a press conference about President Obama's proposal seeking war authorization from congress to fight Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq in the Capitol in Washington on Feb. 11, 2015. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Boehner: Senate Democrats Are to Blame if Homeland Security Shuts Down twitter:description: "Senate Democrats are the ones putting us in this precarious position. It's up to Senate Democrats to get their act together," Boehner said. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd8527afa7e6f08ee/69877ed78e0601a9f545a3fb/boehner.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Boehner: Senate Democrats Are to Blame If Homeland Security Shuts Down > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. 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It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=9e9e9064-2b01-442c-bea7-bc152472e7dd&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Feb 15, 2015 7:53 PM UTC  Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner speaks at a press conference about Obama's proposal seeking war authorization from congress to fight ISIS and the congressional vote on the Keystone XL Pipeline in the Capitol in Washington on Feb. 11, 2015. Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner speaks at a press conference about Obama's proposal seeking war authorization from congress to fight ISIS and the congressional vote on the Keystone XL Pipeline in the Capitol in Washington on Feb. 11, 2015. Jim Lo Scalzo—EPA by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Feb 15, 2015 7:53 PM UTC House Speaker John Boehner said Senate Democrats would be to blame if Congress fails to pass a bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security before it runs out of money on Feb. 27. In an interview on [_Fox News Sunday_](http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/02/15/boehner-says-house-has-spoken-on-dhs-funding-obama-plan-for-isis-not-smart/), Boehner said the House had “done its job” and passed a bill to fund the agency. That bill, however, also includes language that would roll back President Obama’s executive action on immigration, causing Senate Democrats to block it. “The House has acted to fund the department and to stop the president’s overreach when it comes to immigration and his executive orders,” Boehner said Sunday. “Senate Democrats are the ones putting us in this precarious position. It’s up to Senate Democrats to get their act together.” If a funding bill doesn’t pass both chambers, the agency will shut down, which would mean thousands of frontline workers, including border patrol agents, would have to report for duty without pay. _Fox News_ [reports](http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/02/15/boehner-says-house-has-spoken-on-dhs-funding-obama-plan-for-isis-not-smart/) that House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s office released a statement following Boehner’s interview saying Boehner “made it clear that he has no plan to avoid a government shutdown.” \[[Fox News](DHS,%20DHS funding, Obama, Department of Homeland Security, Funding fight, Democrats Funding fight )\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3710522/boehner-homeland-security-shut-down/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3710522/boehner-homeland-security-shut-down/"},"headline":"Boehner: Senate Democrats Are to Blame If Homeland Security Shuts Down","datePublished":"2015-02-15T19:53:53.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T04:26:26.208Z","description":"\"Senate Democrats are the ones putting us in this precarious position. 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