House Republican leaders on Tuesday floated a plan to use the court system, rather than legislation, to stop President Obama’s recent executive actions on immigration.
House Speaker John Boehner told GOP lawmakers in a closed-door meeting on Tuesday that the House likely would vote on a measure “to authorize litigation on this issue,” according to a source in the room.
Without saying it directly, GOP leaders hinted the legal approach could be a substitute for an ongoing attempt to defund Obama’s executive actions through the congressional “power of the purse.”
Boehner told lawmakers such a plan “gives us the best chance of success.”
Conservatives are pushing the GOP leadership to take the legislative route. They want to hold back funding for two Obama immigration directives that allow millions of illegal immigrants to obtain work permits and apply for some federal benefits.
The House earlier this month passed a $40 billion measure to fund the Department of Homeland Security that includes provisions curbing the president’s executive actions.
But Democrats likely will block the measure in the Senate, leaving Republican leaders faced with a possible spending showdown that must be resolved before Feb. 27, when a temporary DHS funding bill expires.
Republican leaders already have pledged to avoid a politically dangerous shutdown fight with Democrats over the spending bill. The legislation funds a broad array of homeland security services, from airport screening to border enforcement and the GOP does not want to be labeled as the party that stripped the agency of funding.
The litigation route is not new for Republicans in their fight against Obama’s use of executive actions to carry out his agenda.
The House GOP last year voted to sue the administration over Obama’s decision to delay the employer mandate in the Affordable Care Act, which Republicans say broke the law.
Boehner has not ruled out using the DHS bill to curb Obama’s immigration directives.
“There’s no reason for me to speculate on what we will or won’t do,” Boehner said. “At this point it’s up to the Senate to act, and I expect that they will soon.”
