President Obama on Wednesday insisted that he would announce executive action on immigration reform by the end of the year, despite Republican claims that GOP gains in the midterms amounted to a referendum on Obama’s plans.
“We’re going to take whatever lawful actions I can,” Obama pledged from the East Room of the White House, just a day after Republicans won back the Senate.
“What I’m not going to do is just wait,” he added.
Obama decided to hold off on taking executive action on immigration until after the midterms, hoping to protect vulnerable Democrats from political blowback.
The disastrous elections for Democrats complicated Obama’s immigration push, however, with Republicans suggesting that going around Congress on the issue would undermine any hopes for bipartisan cooperation.
Just before Obama spoke to reporters, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., in a press conference compared possible executive action on immigration to “waving a red flag in front of a bull.”
Yet, Obama suggested that he wouldn’t be in the position of threatening unilateral action if Republicans would support a legislative fix for the millions of people living in the U.S. illegally. Last year, the Senate passed a blueprint that was dead on arrival in the GOP-led House.
“I have consistently said that it is my profound preference,” Obama reminded reporters, “to see Congress act on a comprehensive immigration reform bill.”
