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House Speaker John A. Boehner, already under fire from unruly conservatives, is facing another agonizing choice over funding the Department of Homeland Security after Democrats thwarted his plans once again Monday.

Senate Democrats, as expected, blocked a House-passed bill to form a conference committee to work out the differences over competing DHS-funding measures. The move, coming ahead of a Friday-into-Saturday shutdown deadline, put the ball back in Boehners court just days after his stopgap proposal was stunningly defeated amid a right-wing revolt.

Its unclear what happens next. Boehner (R-Ohio) is under intense pressure from a small but vocal coterie of rank-and-file Republicans itching to use the DHS debate to fight President Obama on immigration. Dozens of hard-line conservatives voted against Boehners three-week funding bill last week, raising a fresh round of questions about whether he could face a long-shot attempt to dislodge him as speaker.

At the same time, Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) are already struggling to show that the Republican majorities in both houses can govern, so they can hardly afford worries about a shutdown to linger.

Exiting Boehners office Monday afternoon, House Rules Committee Chairman Pete Sessions (R-Tex.) suggested that the speaker had devised a course of action, but he would not reveal specifics.

The speaker is going to offer his advice and options and what hes thinking, said Sessions. Asked about the late Friday deadline, Sessions said: I think well act well before then.

Democrats called on Boehner to hold a House vote on a Senate-passed bill that would fund DHS for the remainder of the fiscal year and that would not affect Obamas executive actions on immigration.

But Boehner and his allies did not commit to doing that.

We are disappointed that Senate Democrats have once again rejected regular order. Now, we will talk with House Republican Members about the way forward, Boehner spokesman Michael Steel said in an e-mail.

Few issues have animated the conservative base like Obamas immigration actions, leaving Boehner in a tough spot. A combination of frustration over the substance of Obamas directives, which include stemming the deportations of millions of undocumented immigrants, and anger over how they were carried out executive maneuvers that conservatives say overstepped Obamas authority has been swirling on the right for months.

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Boehner on the firing line again after Democrats block bill to fund DHS