DREAMERS/GOP/HOUSE OF REPS/IMMIGRATION/TRUMP PEOPLE: “Support grew in the House for an effort to force a vote on several immigration proposals, sparking some conservatives to consider using a coming vote on the farm bill as leverage to try to block them. GOP Reps. John Katko of New York and David Trott of Michigan on Wednesday [5-16-18] joined a push from 18 other centrist Republicans to force a House floor vote on a series of immigration bills, including ones with a path to citizenship for young undocumented immigrants known as Dreamers. That left the GOP centrists just five GOP votes shy of the 218 signatures needed to trigger the votes, assuming all Democrats later join them. The push is pitting one wing of the Republican Party against another. Centrists facing tough re-election fights in November are clamoring for an immigration vote that could widen their appeal at home, while conservatives threatened to potentially derail the farm bill to avoid that outcome. The farm bill includes federal support for farmers and tighter work requirements for food-stamp recipients…The momentum for the immigration push alarmed some of the House’s more conservative members, who take a tougher line on immigration and worry that the centrists’ effort could end up allowing a bill to pass with mostly Democratic support.”
-Kristina Peterson, “Immigration Bills Split House Republicans,” The Wall Street Journal, May 16, 2018 6:41 pm