Boehner Challenges Senate Democrats to 'Get off Their Ass' on Immigration

House Speaker John Boehner challenged Senate Democrats Wednesday to "get off their ass" and pass a bill to fund the Homeland Security Department and restrict President Barack Obama's executive moves on immigration.

His comments Wednesday underscored a worsening stalemate on Capitol Hill with funding for the Homeland Security Department set to expire Feb. 27. A day earlier, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell declared the Senate "stuck" on the issue and said the next move was in the House's court.

Boehner rejected that, insisting the House has already done its job. He said Senate Democrats are at fault for blocking a House-passed bill that funds the department through the remainder of the budget year while also overturning Obama's policies limiting deportations for millions here illegally. Democrats oppose the immigration language.

"The House has done its job, why don't you go ask the Senate Democrats when they're going to get off their ass and do something other than to vote no?" Boehner told reporters after meeting with GOP lawmakers. "The issue here is not Senate Republicans. The issue here is Senate Democrats."

It's not clear how the impasse will be resolved since Republicans in both chambers insist they have no plans for further action. The likeliest outcome may be a short-term extension of current funding levels for the Department of Homeland Security, something agency leaders say would jeopardize their ability to make needed changes at the Secret Service, Border Patrol and other agencies.

The issue has emerged with Republicans in their second month of full congressional control after four years of holding the majority in the House but not the Senate. House Republicans have been frustrated to discover that because of Senate rules giving significant rights to the minority party, little has changed and they still can't get their bills through the Senate.