Speaker of the House John Boehner threatened political war from his party with Obama should he follow through on the eventual Executive Order over immigration enforcement. However, he appears to be backpedaling on those threats and conservatives among the GOP House are none too pleased.
On Tuesday, Boehner’s officer offered to the caucus a plan to push a legislative response to the EO to the backburner for the remaining days of this session and to replace it with a temporary spending measure to fund the government through the end of the year given that current funding ends next week.
Conservatives want Boehner to use the spending proposal as leverage for fighting back against the immigration regulations in a sort of one-two punch instead of delaying the issue until next year when Republicans have full control of Congress.
FOX News reports Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) saying that voters expect Republicans to keep their campaign promises and “Unfortunately, the plan now being circulated in the House fails to meet that test.”
Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) concurred:
“Sending a bill to the Senate without first making an attempt to include defund language is telling the American people that you support Obama’s executive amnesty. That would be a slap in the face to the voters who sent a message last month by electing Republican majorities in Congress.”
Ironically, if House conservative rally against the proposal, Boehner may need to reach across the aisle to Nancy Pelosi to get support for the spending bill, sans immigration ultimatum. Should that become reality, Boehner may quickly become persona non grata among his own caucus.
