Fresh from significant electoral victories in the House and Senate, the GOP is suddenly on course for an epic internal battle over how to handle President Obama’s looming executive action on immigration while avoiding gridlock that could lead to a politically deadly government shutdown.
The House and Senate must act within weeks to extend a bill that funds the government only through Dec. 12.
But the GOP in both chambers is sharply divided over whether to use the spending bill as a vehicle to defund any executive immigration changes.
“It’s a dilemma,” Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, a staunch ally of House Speaker John Boehner, told the Washington Examiner.
Politically, it could be a disaster.
Republican leaders are hearing from their most conservative members, who want to stop the president from acting alone to perhaps legalize as many as 5 million immigrants now living in the United States illegally.
“If the president does something really substantial, like what we are hearing he will do, I think you would have a sizable uprising from our conference who would be willing to go as far as we need to on defunding,” Rep. John Fleming, R-La., told the Examiner.
But the GOP leadership is staunchly opposed to writing a federal spending bill that the Democratic Senate will reject.
In October 2013, a battle between Democrats and Republicans over defunding Obamacare in the fiscal 2014 government spending bill led to a 16-day government shutdown. The public largely blamed the GOP, and the party took a steep dive in the polls.
Both Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., have pledged in recent days that the government would not shut down this time, though Boehner promised to fight executive action “tooth and nail.”
House GOP appropriators, meanwhile, are negotiating a long-term deal to extend funding well into next year at a cost of $1 billion. It does not include any defunding provisions.
But the conservatives are building their case for defunding if Obama makes a move in the coming days.
Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., wants Congress to pass a short-term funding bill that strips out money for executive action, and he is gathering support from fellow Republicans.
“The power of the purse is the preferred order,” newly re-elected Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., said Friday on the Laura Ingraham radio show.
Republicans are set to take over the Senate majority in January, and postponing a long-term funding bill until then would provide their party with a far more favorable environment to defund executive action.
A growing number of conservatives are making the case that if the president acts on immigration in the coming weeks, they should try to defund the move in the government spending bill.
“I support that,” longtime Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, told the Examiner. “It’s one of a number of options we are looking at.”
Smith said Republicans don’t want to be responsible for shutting down the government, but he cited polling that showed the public is also opposed to Obama acting unilaterally on immigration.
“I think the people are with us,” Smith said. “Three-quarters of the American people don’t want the president to go it alone.”
Conservative Republicans tell the Examiner that, if Obama takes unilateral action now on immigration, there will not be enough GOP votes to pass a long-term funding bill unless it strips out money for such a move.
President Obama has not indicated when he will act on immigration, although he has promised to take action “before the end of the year.”
Republican leaders have asked him to hold off, promising to tackle immigration reform when the new Congress convenes in January and the GOP assumes control of the Senate.
“If he does nothing, then I think we can work together, “ Rep. Joe Pitts, R-Pa., told the Examiner. “But if he waves the flag in front of the bull, if he picks a fight now, it’s going to inflame passions. Then we’ll have to look at things like using the power of the purse.”
