House Republicans repudiate Obama’s immigration actions
House Republicans repudiate Obama’s immigration actions
(about 4 hours later)
House Republicans sharply rebuked President Obama’s overhaul of the nation’s immigration system Thursday, easily passing legislation to curb the White House’s ability to protect millions from being deported. But the effort was largely symbolic since the Democratic-controlled Senate plans to ignore the bill, and the White House has said it would veto it.
House Republicans voted to rebuke President Obama for his unilateral overhaul of the nation’s immigration system Thursday, passing legislation to curb the White House’s ability to protect millions from being deported.
Still, the passage of the bill as an individual measure by a 219 to 197 vote (three voted present), bolstered the standing of House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), leaving him positioned to pass an omnibus spending bill next week that would fund the government beyond Dec. 11, when current funding legislation will expire. Some tea-party favorites wanted to tie the immigration measure to the spending bill.
But the effort was largely symbolic: The Democratic-controlled Senate plans to ignore the bill, and the White House has said it would veto it.
Boehner’s ease so far in persuading his unruly conference to bypass a politically risky showdown over immigration, even as some tea-party favorites talk of shutting down the government, underscores the newfound pragmatic streak in his ranks since the GOP made big gains in the midterm elections.
Still, the political consequence of the bill that passed by a 219-to-197 vote (three Republicans voted present) is the bolstered standing of House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), leaving him well-positioned to pass an omnibus spending bill next week that would fund the government beyond Dec. 11, when current funds will expire. Some of the most conservative GOP members wanted to tie the immigration defunding measure to the larger government spending bill.
Rather than governing by crisis as they have in recent years, House Republicans now seem eager to move past the tumultuous lame-duck session and turn to their agenda for January, when they will take control of both congressional chambers and hope to pass GOP bills on tax issues, energy policy and their own versions of immigration reform.
But Boehner’s ease so far in persuading his unruly conference to forgo a politically risky showdown underscores a new pragmatic streak in his ranks since the GOP’s big gains in the midterm elections.
“We’ve learned some hard lessons since the government shutdown last year,” said Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), a Boehner ally. “People are swallowing things that are difficult to swallow on all sides of the conference. People are making concessions in order to move along.”
Rather than governing by crisis as they have in recent years, House Republicans seem eager to move past the tumultuous lame-duck session and look ahead to January, when they will take control of both congressional chambers. They hope to pass bills on tax issues, energy policy and their own versions of immigration reform.
Rep. Ted Yoho (R-Fla.), a firebrand who voted against Boehner in the speaker election two years ago, authored the legislation that passed the House on Thursday. It was included as part of the GOP’s response in order to signal to hard-liners that Boehner was listening to their pleas to repudiate the president. House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.), a new member of the leadership team who is trusted by many conservatives, orchestrated its consideration and passage.
“We’ve learned some hard lessons since the government shutdown last year,” said Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), a Boehner ally. “People are swallowing things that are difficult to swallow on all sides of the conference.”
“We think this is the most practical way to fight the president’s action,” Boehner said at a Thursday news conference. “Frankly, we listened to our members and we listened to some members who were frankly griping the most. This was their idea of how to proceed.”
Rep. Ted Yoho (R-Fla.), a firebrand who voted against Boehner in the speaker election two years ago, authored the legislation that passed the House on Thursday. It was included as part of the GOP’s response in order to signal to hard-liners that Boehner was listening to their pleas to repudiate the president. House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.), a new member of the leadership team trusted by many conservatives, orchestrated its consideration and passage.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest warned Thursday that Yoho’s bill “would actually roll back some of the president’s proposed reforms to the immigration system in a way that would actually devote law enforcement resources to deporting ‘Dreamers.’ The president does not believe it is an efficient or effective use law enforcement resources to try to separate these individuals from their families.”
“We think this is the most practical way to fight the president’s action,” Boehner said at a Thursday news conference. “Frankly, we listened to our members, and we listened to some members who were frankly griping the most. This was their idea of how to proceed.”
Earnest questioned why the House GOP was taking the time to pass a measure to “roll back” the president’s initiatives rather than voting on a bipartisan immigration bill passed by the Senate last year. “Its’ a little nonsensical for them to be pursuing this course of action but not inconsistent with their previous strategy.”
White House press secretary Josh Earnest warned Thursday that Yoho’s bill “would actually roll back some of the president’s proposed reforms to the immigration system in a way that would actually devote law enforcement resources to deporting ‘dreamers.’ The president does not believe it is an efficient or effective use of law enforcement resources to try to separate these individuals from their families.”
But Thursday’s vote is only the first step in the two-part immigration strategy that Boehner has crafted. Before next week’s vote on the spending bill, the leadership is both reassuring conservatives that the immigration fight is only beginning and courting Democrats to support the must-pass spending bill.
Earnest questioned why the House GOP was taking the time to pass a measure to “roll back” the president’s initiatives rather than voting on a bipartisan immigration bill passed by the Senate last year. “It’s a little nonsensical for them to be pursuing this course of action but not inconsistent with their previous strategy.”
But Thursday’s vote is only the first step in Boehner’s two-part immigration strategy. Before next week’s vote on the spending bill, the leadership is reassuring conservatives that the immigration fight is only beginning and courting Democrats to support the spending bill.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Thursday that she is open to backing Boehner if Republicans don’t shift the legislation to curry favor with conservatives in the coming days.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Thursday that she is open to backing Boehner if Republicans don’t shift the legislation to curry favor with conservatives in the coming days.
“We want to work together to pass a bill to keep government open as we had to supply the votes last year to open up government,” Pelosi said at a news conference. “Let us supply the votes to keep government open. But we can’t do it unless we have a bill that is worthy of our support.”
“We want to work together to pass a bill to keep government open as we had to supply the votes last year to open up government,” Pelosi said at a news conference. “Let us supply the votes to keep government open. But we can’t do it unless we have a bill that is worthy of our support.”
With congressional appropriators continuing to negotiate details of the spending bill, senior Democratic aides have warned that it will be difficult for Republicans to earn bipartisan support if the bill includes policy “riders” that strip away funding or the powers of perennial GOP targets, including the Environmental Protection Agency and smaller regulatory bodies. Any attempt to block the District of Columbia from legalizaing marijuana also would earn the ire of Democrats, aides warned.
Boehner’s package, which the speaker outlined this week in a meeting with GOP members, would include 11 of the 12 appropriation bills except for the Department of Homeland Security, which has jurisdiction over immigration enforcement. DHS would be funded only through February to ensure immigration remains at the fore of the national debate by forcing Congress to once again debate immigration in a few months.
Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) also cautioned in an interview Wednesday that packing the spending bill with GOP-backed riders could reduce Democrats’ willingness to offer a hand.
Boehner didn’t rule out stripping the immigration-related funding from the DHS budget: “We’ve had limited options in terms of how we can deal with this. But there are options, and we’re going to continue to pursue this,” he said at the news conference.
On Thursday, Pelosi, Hoyer and other Democrats rallied with immigration reform advocates outside the U.S. Capitol in the chilly weather.
Aides said Boehner is treading carefully as he rounds up votes for the spending bill. Republican leaders are keeping tabs on the scope of conservative fury and the various demands being made by members. Some have called on Boehner to not invite Obama to deliver the State of the Union address next year; others have suggested cutting the budgets for White House operations.
Clarissa Martinez de Castro, deputy vice president of the National Council of La Raza faulted Republicans for “pulling stunts instead of seriously addressing immigration.”
But on Thursday, Boehner dismissed such chatter. Asked whether he might not invite Obama to give a State of the Union address, he said: “Listen, the more the president talks about his ideas, the more unpopular he becomes. Why would I want to deprive him of that opportunity?”
Rocio Saenz, international executive vice president of the Service Employees International Union, criticized Republicans for continuing to focus on Obama instead of solving the nation’s immigration issues. “We in the Latino and the immigrant community, we will remember who stood in the way for progress,” she said.
Boehner’s package, which the speaker outlined earlier this week in a meeting with GOP members, would include 11 of the 12 appropriation bills except for the Department of Homeland Security, which has jurisdiction over immigration enforcement. DHS would be funded only through February, in order to ensure immigration remains at the fore of the national debate by forcing Congress to once again debate immigration in a few months.
Boehner didn’t rule out attempting to strip all immigration-related funding from DHS when it comes time to extend the department’s funding: “We’ve had limited options in terms of how we can deal with this. But there are options and we’re going to continue to pursue this,” he said at the news conference.
Incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who met with Obama on Wednesday at the White House, has avoided saying much about the House GOP’s deliberations. His confidants said he has encouraged Boehner to pass whatever bill is possible, but McConnell knows Boehner is navigating difficult terrain with back-bench members, who would object to having Senate Republicans weigh in on ongoing House discussions.
In a radio interview Wednesday with Yahoo News, McConnell firmly backed Boehner and said he stood with him. The speaker’s plan “doesn’t shut anything down but also doesn’t give the Department of Homeland Security a full year’s funding and guarantees a kind of ongoing discussion about this whole issue,” he said. He added later that “shutting down agencies of the government that have nothing to do with immigration serves no purpose other than to rattle the economy.”
House GOP aides said Boehner is treading carefully as he rounds up vote ahead of next Tuesday, when the legislative language for his spending bill is scheduled to be released, days before the government runs out of funds. Leader aides are keeping tabs on the scope of conservative fury and the various demands being made by members. Some have called on Boehner to not invite Obama to deliver the State of the Union address next year; others have suggested cutting the budgets for White House operations.
But on Thursday Boehner dismissed such talk. Asked whether he might not invite Obama to give a State of the Union address, he said: “Listen, the more the president talks about his ideas, the more unpopular he becomes. Why would I want to deprive him of that opportunity?”
