Congressional Republicans are locked in a heated debate over how to avert a shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security, but those among them with an eye on running for president have been mostly playing supporting roles.
Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) are no strangers to seizing the Senate spotlight and trying to attract national attention to their causes through marathon filibusters, news conferences, floor speeches and scores of media interviews. But as they each weigh running for the White House, they have not tried to own the DHS funding debate with such showy tactics.
Their postures might signal a desire to separate themselves from the daily toil of Congress, which remains deeply unpopular among the public. They might also be a recognition of the political toxicity of the DHS fight, which polling shows will reflect poorly on Republicans if it leads to a shutdown of the agency.
[Republicans split on DHS funding, edging closer to partial agency shutdown]
Rubio, who quickly emerged as a vocal and visible opponent of President Obama's decision to normalize relations with Cuba in a string of media interviews late last year, was not in the Senate on Monday when it tried for the fourth time to move forward with a House-passed bill that would fund DHS but undo Obama's executive actions on immigration. He was promoting his new book in New Hampshire, a key early nominating state.
Rubio has not shied away from weighing in on the DHS debate while he is on the road. Like most Republicans, he has called on Democrats to stop blocking the House-passed bill.
"It's actually the Democrats who are messing with the funding; they are the ones who are filibustering," Rubio said Monday, according to NH1. He added: "I think we need to stop the executive action, the latest executive action the president's made, and we should not give up trying."
Cruz, who was in the Senate on Monday, sounded a similar note.
"The proper course of action is for Democrats to stop filibustering funding for the Department of Homeland Security," he told reporters. "The Democrats should not hold national security hostage to their effort to force the implementation of an amnesty program that the federal court has concluded is contrary to law."
But like Rubio, Cruz, who led the fight against Obama's health-care law that many blamed for the 2013 government shutdown, has not really been on the front lines. He has distanced himself from the GOP strategy, blaming Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) for not being forceful enough with Democrats.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who made national headlines in 2013 with his own marathon filibuster of John O. Brennan's nomination to be CIA director, has also criticized Democrats for their resistance to the House-passed bill. But like Cruz and Rubio, the DHS battle has not become part of his political identity the way national security issues and government surveillance have in the past.
Polling could explain why the Republicans may not want to associate themselves too closely with the DHS fight. A recent CNN/ORC survey showed 53 percent of Americans would blame congressional Republicans for a DHS shutdown, while just 30 percent would blame Obama.
[What exactly would happen during a DHS shutdown?]
It's also a less-than-ideal time for them to give voters a reason to remember that they are part of broadly unpopular Congress. Recent polls show clear majorities of Americans disapprove of the job Congress is doing.
Aside from problems with the general public, the debate could also cause friction for the prospective White House hopefuls within the smaller universe of Republican primary voters. The GOP is torn between those who believe it should relax its views on immigration and hard-line activists who say such efforts amount to "amnesty."
Craig Robinson, a Republican activist in Iowa and editor of a GOP news Web site, said the DHS vote is likely to be watched most closely by conservatives who also happen to be among the most avid caucus-goers in his first-in-the-nation nominating state.
Conservatives, Robinson said, are "going to watch this. I think the vote will matter, and they will be keyed in -- especially if there are potential 2016 candidates who are on different sides of this coin. It will be used as somewhat of a test of one's conservative credentials."
Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), who is weighing a White House bid to considerably less fanfare than Cruz, Rubio or Paul, has said he is content to let the courts deal with Obama's immigration actions and is prepared to pass a clean bill funding DHS. Graham is generally viewed as more moderate than Rubio, Paul and Cruz.
Even without wading deeply into the debate, Graham has risked further alienating conservative activists already irate with his support for a comprehensive immigration reform bill that included a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.
"I think there will be frustration from conservatives that we're not going to address this executive order mess," Robinson said. "Look, they were upset with the end-of-the-year budget deal. So they're looking for this to be addressed."
Sean Sullivan has covered national politics for The Washington Post since 2012.
Mike DeBonis covers local politics and government for The Washington Post. He also writes a blog and a political analysis column that runs on Fridays.
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