House rejects stopgap security agency funding, partial shutdown looms

By David Lawder and Richard Cowan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The House of Representatives on Friday failed to approve a stopgap funding bill for the U.S. domestic security agency in an embarrassing setback for Republican House Speaker John Boehner, increasing the threat of a partial agency shutdown at midnight. With just hours left before spending authority expires for the Department of Homeland Security, a three-week spending bill was rejected in the House by a 224-203 vote that left lawmakers few options ahead of the deadline. The vote sent lawmakers scrambling to determine their next steps in a political battle that was originally triggered by Republican efforts to block funding for Democratic President Barack Obama's executive orders last November on immigration by attaching provisions to the department's spending bill. Boehner, who has struggled to control conservatives in his party who considered any compromise on immigration a surrender to Obama, left the House chamber and refused to comment before the final vote was announced.