Moderate Republicans and Democrats moved forward on a plan to force a vote on a number of immigration proposals on Wednesday after months of inaction on the part of Republican leadership in the House.
The lawmakers are hoping use a discharge petition, sponsored by Florida Republican Carlos Curbelo, that would allow them to circumvent House Speaker Paul Ryan’s tight grip on the legislative process. If the petition can garner 218 signatures, the House would proceed to a so-called Queen of the Hill rule (put forward by California Republican Jeff Denham), during which members vote on several pieces of legislation. The bill that wins the most support above the threshold to pass outright, moves on to the Senate.
“We want to make sure the House takes up immigration reform in a meaningful way,” Curbelo said at a press conference Wednesday afternoon. “The member-driven process that we have started today is one that does not seek to accumulate power. It does not seek to impose any one solution. On the contrary, it seeks to diffuse power, and in doing so, to empower every member of the House so that they can play a meaningful role in this process,” he said.
Denham’s Queen of the Hill rule would allow votes on four bills: Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte’s conservative immigration bill, the Dream Act, the bipartisan USA Act put forth by Texas Republican Will Hurd and California Democrat Pete Aguilar, and a fourth bill of Paul Ryan’s choosing.
Of those options, the USA Act appears to have the best chance of passing. That bill would allow Dreamers to apply for eight-year, renewable conditional permanent resident status, protecting them from deportation and allowing them to work in the United States. DACA recipients would automatically be granted permanent resident status, and the bill would provide funds for enhanced border security, though no money for Trump’s border wall. Republican leaders fear Hurd’s bill would not win support from the president, who is in favor of a hard-line bill like Goodlatte’s.
House members have grown frustrated with a lack of movement on the issue since President Donald Trump announced he would end the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program last fall. Speaker Paul Ryan has refused to bring to the floor several proposals to address immigration and border security, with leaders instead continuing to whip Goodlatte’s bill. That measure would have little chance of passage in the Senate. Meanwhile, bipartisan proposals, such as Hurd’s bill, have been sidelined.
“We continue to work with our members to find a solution that can both pass the House and get the president’s signature,” said AshLee Strong, Ryan’s spokeswoman.
But one of Trump’s closest allies in Congress, New York Republican Chris Collins, has lended his support to Curbelo’s effort.
“We can’t just do nothing,” Collins told THE WEEKLY STANDARD on Wednesday, explaining that he has been frustrated by the lack of movement in the House.
Collins expressed support for Hurd’s bill, as well as for Goodlatte’s. (Under a Queen of the Hill rule, members can vote for more than one piece of legislation). Collins added that while a discharge petition could be seen as a “relatively drastic” option, he is eager to find a solution for undocumented workers in his district. But why is the discharge petition necessary? Why won’t Speaker Ryan simply bring the bills to the floor for a vote?
“Because we don’t have unanimity on what it is we ultimately are going to do,” Collins said.
On Wednesday afternoon, 15 Republicans had signed the petition. If every Democrat—193, in all—signs it as well, that will bring the count to 208. Curbelo will need a majority of the House (218) for the petition to be successful. According to House Rules for the 115th Congress, motions to discharge legislation can be made on the second and fourth Mondays of each month. Such a motion can be made only after seven legislative days have passed since the discharge petition was first introduced, meaning the earliest the Curbelo petition could be acted upon—presumably delayed by a holiday recess for Memorial Day—is June 11.
Republican leaders, predictably, were skeptical of the effort.
Oklahoma Republican Tom Cole, a member of the whip team, told reporters he doubted the petition would ultimately have enough support to succeed. And Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy attacked the plan during a conversation with reporters after votes. “I don’t believe in discharge petitions,” he said. (McCarthy signed a discharge petition in 2010 to repeal the Affordable Care Act.) On Wednesday, McCarthy argued the move would amount to handing the House over to the Democrats. “I think it’s better to use the legislative process,” he said.
And House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows, a fan of the Goodlatte bill, said he would not sign on to the petition. As for solving the DACA problem, Meadows confidently predicted that Ryan would eventually bring an immigration bill to the floor— “without a doubt.” But would that bill, likely the conservative Goodlatte plan, be able to pass the Senate?
“I don’t ever worry about the Senate,” said Meadows.
