Yes, you read that correctly. As implausible as it might seem, Organizing for Action is, in fact, supporting a few Republicans, including Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.).
OFA — President Barack Obama’s old campaign organization-turned-nonprofit — reportedly showed support for some Republican Congressmen who have publicly backed a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants, according to The Washington Post.
On Monday, the organization mobilized its supporters to the districts of Reps. Jeff Denham (R-Calif.), Joe Heck (R-Nev.), Dave Reichert (R-Wash.), Aaron Schock (R-Ill.) and Dan Webster (R-Fla.) — as well as Ryan’s district in Wisconsin. The OFA demonstrators also urged the Congressmen to garner support from fellow GOP-ers for a pathway to citizenship, The Post reported.
In the past, OFA has been accused of having a very cozy relationship with the Obama administration, even providing big-money donors with direct access to the president. But in recent months — and as White House scandals continue to pile up — the organization has seemingly distanced itself from the very man its previous iteration elected to lead the country. Pairing up with the ‘enemy’ is just one more example of how OFA has gradually stepped away from the President.
Immigration reform is one of the group’s biggest policy agenda items, so it’s not entirely unexpected that OFA would reach across the aisle to accomplish it. A pathway to citizenship is likely to go nowhere in the House without support from prominent Republicans like Ryan. Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) has vowed that the House will not take up the Senate’s immigration reform bill. OFA supporters also showed up outside Boehner’s Ohio office on Monday, pressuring him to allow a vote on the bill.
While the Speaker isn’t likely to reconsider, OFA is praising those Republicans in the House who do support a pathway to citizenship — and hoping they might be able to apply some pressure on other members of their party.
“To Mr. Schock, I would say we’re very encouraged by what you’ve been saying, and you’re moving in the right direction and we will be there to see that you vote correctly,” OFA Chapter Lead Scott Cross told a local Illinois news outlet. “But I do believe that he has listened to his citizens and his district.”
Dennis Hughes, a special issue organizer for OFA, told Wisconsin newspaper Kenosha News that OFA wants Ryan to call for a vote.
“He has already said he wants to vote on immigration reform,” he said. “We want him to call for a vote. He’s been a leader on this issue.”
At the time of this article, Organizing for Action had not returned request for additional comment.
