Speaker John Boehner's Plan To Avert Gov't Shutdown Angers Fellow Republicans
The effort of House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner to pass a spending bill in the US has drawn the ire of a section of his own conservative Republicans, who are impatient and insisting on an open showdown with President BarackmObama for his executive action that granted "amnesty" to illegal immigrants.
The tussle among Republicans will see the spending struggle in the Congress stretching right up to the Dec11 deadline for a government shutdown. Many Tea Party lawmakers are also against the softline by Boehner to keep the government comfortably run through September 2015 and postpone the battle over immigration until early 2015 when the Republicans take control of the Senate and attain House majority. This hardline by fellow Republicans will now force Boehner to seek Democratic support to pass his spending proposal and avert a shutdown as the government's spending authority is set to expire, reports News Week.
Conservative Minority
Many senior Republican leaders are desperate to avoid the repeat of a 16-day shutdown in the past, that inflicted heavy political damage on the party. But conservatives said there is no point in waiting until 2015 to stop funding for Obama's order. They do not want senior Republican leaders to be seen as Mr. Obama's crisis managers.
Congress should stand up and use the power of the purse, argued Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas. He said that Mr Obama's announcement of Nov 21, using executive powers to ease the threat of deportation for up to 4.7 million undocumented immigrants, amounts to an illegal amnesty. "We will not allocate taxpayers money to lawless and illegal amnesties," he said outside the Capitol.
A core group of 20 to 50 Republican House members are also insisting the must-pass government spending bill be used as a hedge in the immigration fight. Boehner has the experience of having used Democrats to pass spending bills in previous showdowns, including in 2013. The Conservatives have an uphill battle in hand.
Bohner Plan
The Republican leader in the Senate, McConnell endorsed Boehner's proposal to pass a full year of funding for most government agencies and curtail the Department of Homeland Security, which has to implement the immigration order. Since the Republican victory at the polls in November, Speaker John A. Boehner and incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have been stressing the need for Republicans to move away from the past ways of parliamentary governing, as in the last six years.
They want to refurbish the party's brand, and wanted the party to address tax reform, energy policy and curb federal regulations once Congress reconvenes in 2015. They are also hoping that GOP-crafted immigration reforms could be suitably incorporated that time, reported Washington Post.