DREAMERS/GOP/HOUSE OF REPS/IMMIGRATION/PAUL RYAN: “For weeks, House Speaker Paul Ryan has said any deal to shield 700,000 young undocumented people from deportation must be bipartisan. His GOP conference, however, has another idea entirely.
House Republicans are pressing Ryan for a vote on a partisan immigration bill that has little chance of passing the Senate. They want floor action on legislation by House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), which goes well beyond what the White House has said should be in a deal codifying the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program into law — and which is unlikely to garner a single Democratic vote…
Ryan and his top lieutenants have not committed to a vote on the Goodlatte bill, which GOP leaders worry could undermine bipartisan negotiations. And they’re not even sure the text could garner the 218 GOP votes needed for passage in the House. Still, he’s risking a backlash from conservatives if he doesn’t put it forward for a vote…
The debate about the House strategy comes as a bipartisan group of senators has reached a deal to create a path to citizenship for the so-called Dreamers, after Trump decided last year to end the DACA program and demand a legislative solution instead. Trump, however, has panned the agreement as a ‘step backwards’ and accused Democrats of hindering talks.
Meanwhile, bipartisan agreement seemed even further off after Trump last week told lawmakers behind closed doors that he wanted to encourage immigrants from places such as Norway, not countries that he deemed ‘shitholes.’ The heightened tensions also come as the government is set to run out of money Friday, raising the stakes for deal-making this week.”
-Rachael Bade, “Ryan squeezed by conservatives on DACA vote,” Politico, Jan. 15, 2018 07:22am