Thursday, May 17, 2018

Immigration battle brewing in the House

A major battle over illegal immigration is looming in the House, where lawmakers are just five votes shy of forcing a vote on a bloc of reform measures that Republican leaders are trying to block.

House Republicans have long maneuvered to avoid a floor debate on immigration reform.

Republican leaders have been urging the rank and file to avoid using the discharge petition to bring up a vote on immigration, warning it would give the minority the upper hand legislatively and perhaps allow them to pass an immigration bill few Republicans support.

Ryan later told reporters, "We're working on it," but provided no detail of how Republican leaders planned to convince Denham and the other Republicans to abandon the discharge petition.

That's why House Republicans are worried that, at best, the House would waste time by voting down every bill, but at worst might pass something that Trump doesn't want.

House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows, R-N.C., said in exchange for bringing up the Goodlatte bill, he told GOP leaders he would help get his caucus to vote for the 2019 Farm Bill, which is currently being debated on the House floor and has no Democratic support.

Conservatives tell the Washington Examiner they have long awaited a floor vote on the Goodlatte measure and say Republican leaders promised such a vote in exchange for their support of government funding bills.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/congress/immigration-battle-brewing-in-the-house

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