House funding bill blocks Obama’s amnesty — Shutdown or Capitulation to follow?
Will Obama risk homeland security over his immigration plan?
John Boehner gave a speech today that I could have written for him about Obama’s lawless immigration actions.
The speech hit all the right notes in connection with passage of a House funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security which blocks using funds for Obama’s executive immigration plan.
That plan, devised by the White House, unilaterally creates a new class of people effectively exempt from being penalized for immigration violations by inventing a process to obtain legal status found nowhere in the immigration laws. It is not executive or prosecutorial discretion as to better implementing current law—it is a rejection of current law.
Here is a partial transcript from Boehner’s website:
“Let me thank all my colleagues who have worked to put this bill together. Today I rise – and the House rises – to support and defend our Constitution.
“We do not take this action lightly, but simply there is no alternative. This is not a dispute between the parties, or even between the branches of our government. This executive overreach is an affront to the rule of law and to the Constitution itself.
“I appreciate all the efforts of those working to fix our broken immigration system, especially since I’m one of them. But what we are dealing with is a president who has ignored the people, has ignored the Constitution, and even his own past statements.
“In fact, on at least 22 occasions, he said he did not have the authority to do what he has done.
“To think that the president of the United States studied constitutional law is one thing …. he taught it as well. But now his actions suggest he’s forgotten what these words even mean.
“Enough is enough. By their votes last November, the people made clear they want more accountability from this president. And by our votes here today, we will heed their will, and we will keep our oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America.”
All well and good. But some House Republicans were against the blocking action, as reported by National Journal, which described the opposition as the “moderates”:
Republican moderates fired a shot across the bow of House GOP leaders Wednesday, warning them not to push too far in their battle against President Obama’s immigration policies.
The House voted 236-191 to approve a measure funding the Homeland Security Department while simultaneously defunding President Obama’s unilateral action to provide temporary deportation deferrals and work permits to millions of undocumented immigrants. But an earlier vote, on an amendment blocking Obama’s 2012 executive order providing deportation deferrals to undocumented immigrants who arrived to the U.S. as children, was tighter, with 26 Republicans joining every Democrat to oppose the language.
Those votes could be even more crucial going forward, when House Republicans enter negotiations with their Senate counterparts and Obama on a final Homeland Security bill. If GOP leaders go too far in catering to their conservative immigration bloc, they could drive those moderates away—and imperil their reelections in 2016.
Will Senate Republicans go along? Lindsay Graham and some others are already blaming House Republicans for any consequences:
Sen. Lindsay Graham warned his GOP colleagues against connecting funding for the Department of Homeland Security with an effort to undermine President Barack Obama’s immigration overhaul.
“To my Republican colleagues, we’re playing with fire here. We need a robust homeland security budget now,” the South Carolina Republican said in an interview Monday on CNN’s “The Situation Room.”
And will they get enough Democratic votes in the Senate? And when Obama vetoes it, will Republicans capitulate under the threat of being blamed for shutting down homeland security?
If Obama closed WWII Memorials and other high profile symbols of government, what will he do this time to make sure Republicans take the blame?
And what is the likelihood Republicans will hold firm?
In the dozens of radio interviews I’ve done about Obama’s immigration plan, I’m always asked “What can Congress do?”
My answer is that ultimately, Congress only can use the power of the purse, but that I didn’t think Republicans had the stomach for it after October 2013.
We’ll see if I’m right.
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Comments
“Will Obama risk homeland security over his immigration plan?”
Wul, yah…
The whole thing is a direct assault on homeland security. That’s the plan, stan.
I am so deeply cynical about the strength of Boehner’s spine that I consider your comment far too optimistic an outcome.
Seriously, what could constitute a bigger threat to U.S. security than giving unlimited numbers of law-breaking foreigners legal status to remain in the U.S. without knowing who these people are or what they’ve done in the past?
How quickly we’ve forgotten the painful lessons of 9/11/01. The terrorists who committed that attack, in which thousands of innocent Americans were brutally murdered on our own soil, included “immigrants” here illegally, or on student visas (expired, in several cases). One of the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, never acted upon by our irresponsible government, was to implement a system to track and expel visa over-stayers.
Instead of being more careful about the number and type of foreigners we allow into the U.S., the Obama administration is simply throwing open the gates to any and every comer. Criminals, terrorists, welfare cheats, contagious-disease carriers? No problem. The 9/11 terrorists obtained their U.S. driver’s licenses by stealth and fraud; the next terrorists won’t have to bother with that — states like Arizona are now being forced to hand out driver’s licenses to illegal aliens.
And all the bull$hit coming out of the Obama administration about how these newly-amnestied illegal aliens will have to pass “background checks” is nothing but bald-faced lies. Obama spewed the very same line of bull before he issued the illegal DREAMer amnesty. Last year DHS was forced to admit, in responding to an FOIA request, that it is not performing background checks on DREAMer amnesty applicants; instead, it’s just rubber-stamping their applications as approved. DHS said it lacks the money and manpower to perform background checks, and that it was “overwhelmed” by the hundreds of thousands of DREAMer amnesty applications that it received. This is the very same DHS that Obama now promises Americans will have no problem performing background checks on MILLIONS of new amnesty applicants.
Republicans, and Democrats, who are aiding and abetting Obama’s illegal alien amnesties had better be prepared for the public rage they will be facing if/when the next terror attack on Americans is perpetrated by amnestied illegal aliens who were able to plot and execute their crimes here thanks to Obama’s ludicrously irresponsible and dangerous power grabs.
When that day comes, there will be no place in this country for these idiot politicians to hide.
No shutdown.
The Senate will either amend and pass, blanket pass without amendments (where the House would have to re-vote), or it will die in the Senate (less likely with McConnel – but possible).
If passed, it will be vetoed. Will the Congress have the votes to override? That is the question.
I see now that Obama will be the obstructionist, along with the Democrat Party. Not that the propaganda-MSM will report things that way.
Sabre-rattling and finger-shaking and capitulation…
So they will withhold funds that he refuses to spend anyway…. I’m sorry how does that punish him in any way?
He weakened his speech by overdoing his quotes from Obama about lacking power to do what he done did. Three would have sufficed, plus counting the rest. Ten yard penalty for overblathering.
Good God, that was the whole speech. Just Obama quotes, and an offhand remark at the end. What a waste.
A general proposal to restore balance of powers, and reverse the harm done by Obama’s partisan rending of that balance, could have easily replaced half those tedious recitations, and given us more hope that such restitution would actually take place.
Fifty yard penalty for speechifying without aims nor principles.
This is just all for show. Boehner is a sell out, and has never had any intention of stopping Obama. Republicans will never allow Obama to shut down homeland security and withdraw border agents etc or risk being blamed for any attack that should happen after such a shutdown. By design Boehner and his sellouts chose to take the only hostage republicans will never chose to shoot. If they were serious they would have either taken the entire government hostage or take something Obama and the left care about as a hostage like the entire EPA department. Either Obama agrees to the changes on immigration or they defund EPA and rollback enforcement through no funding of all the left’s precious regulations on coal, CO2, CAFE mileage standards, etc. etc. The fact that they failed to take the correct hostages is proof they were never serious about stopping Obama and his immigration ammesties, etc. Boehner and the republicans are in bed with big business that wants the amnesty and increased legal immigration. They care not one wit for the wishes of the voters who elected them and what they want.
Now if only there were some meaningful relationship between Boehner’s words and his deeds – that would be something!
Somebody please put up a list of the 26 Republicans who need to be cast out of office for voting aginst defunding DACA. These stinkers need to be identified and face righteous outrage.
Reps. Mark Amodei (Nev.)
Mike Coffman (Colo.)
Ryan Costello (Pa.)
Carlos Curbelo (Fla.)
Jeff Denham (Calif.)
Charlie Dent (Pa.)
Mario Diaz-Balart (Fla.)
Bob Dold (Ill.)
Renee Ellmers (N.C.)
Chris Gibson (N.Y.)
Richard Hanna (N.Y.)
Cresent Hardy (Nev.)
Joe Heck (Nev.)
John Katko (N.Y.)
Peter King (N.Y.)
Adam Kinzinger (Ill.)
Frank LoBiondo (N.J.)
Tom MacArthur (N.J.)
Martha McSally (Ariz.)
Patrick Meehan (Pa.)
Devin Nunes (Calif.)
Dave Reichert (Wash.)
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (Fla.)
Chris Smith (N.J.)
Fred Upton (Mich.)
David Valadao (Calif.)
Capitulation. I think what is happening now is political theater designed to put up the appearance of fighting Obama’s illegal amnesty without doing anything to upset the pro-amnesty CoC.
Remember how Boehner rammed through full funding for Obamacare during the lame duck session? So much for “repeal and replace”!The same pattern is being woven again in the fake battle against Obama’s amnesty power grab.
This is the “Embrace” stage of “Embrace, Extend, Execute”.
Embrace–as in make your opponents cause your own. done.
Extend–change it so that it hampers your opponent…that’s next.
Execute–full amnesty, full cave…etc.
I’m going with capitulation. It’s what the Rs do best.
It’s the only thing they do.
Senate republicans can either stand with Obama or they can stand for the rule of law. Personally, I’d like every single one of them on record regarding this issue.
At this rate Professor, how can we have a legal insurrection when there is no respect for the legal part at all by the other side?
When are we all going to collectively agree that this has gone far enough and break out the guns, pitchforks, torches, tar, and feathers?
Obama and his cronies should have been tarred and feathered and sent running for a few good miles down the streets of Washington a long time ago.
These idiots and the future idiots will not get the message until several of them have been made an example of.
LI has not been good for my blood pressure lately.
obama will risk it, however there is no risk as the alky will fold.
this is nothing more than Kabuki Legislature: the House & the Senate will pass it, Obola will veto it, the override will fail on a party line vote, and that will be it.
the GOPe thinks the base is stupid, and who can blame them?
every two years they vote for the same weasels, and yet expect something different. “but we’ll lose our seniority… he does good things for our district…” etc, etc, etc
the excuses are endless, and utter BS, as if a problem as big and complex as ours could be solved without pain & sacrifices by everyone. we’ve raised generations of sheep, and are apparently surprised that they grew up to men without chests.
i’m just glad i have no children to worry about, so i can just sit back laughing as the whole thing collapses, telling the fools over and over “i told you so!”
The thing is that the rest of the government is funded thru the end of the fiscal year. During the last “shut down”, DHS was considered about 85% essential. That will limit the games Obama can play. What is he going to do? Open up the borders more than he already has? Take Valerie Jarrett’s secret service agents away?
I am all for wait and see.
Boehner – a severe conservative by his own measure – is pandering to GOP conservatives. He is milking an inevitable capitulation. Making the most it because a crisis is a terrible thing to waste.
“Will Obama risk homeland security over his immigration plan?”
Certainly. Obama could care less about homeland security, but not much less. He just let another 5 out of gitmo. Rudy Giuliani opined that its as if AlQueda puts in a request for a bomb maker, a battlefield planner…….