The effort to freeze the resettlement of Syrian refugees in the US poses a new conundrum for President Barack Obama, who threatened to veto stand-alone legislation that won the support of 47 Democrats when it passed the House last month. From left are, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., chair of the Republican Conference, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Calif., Speaker Ryan, and House Majority Whip Steve Scalise of La.
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GOP leaders are coalescing around the bill because its expected to have broad backing from both Republicans and Democrats and is seen as something that could win Obamas signature.
Democrats pushed back against the idea of any policy riders, with Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid going as far as calling them a “partisan poison pill”.
Mike Lillis and Scott Wong write House Democrats oppose more than 30 appropriations riders in the Republicans’ year-end omnibus budget proposal and will make an alternative funding offer.
“We patiently await their counter-proposal”, said Don Stewart, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
While lacking specifics, the speech will hint at a Republican agenda that addresses jobs, entitlement programs, taxes and the national debt. In the best case scenario, Speaker Ryan will need dozens of Democratic votes to pass the funding bill, and Democrats will not support anything containing riders that are nothing more than a Republican policy wish list. That boosts Democratic leverage in the negotiations over which policy provisions, known as riders, will be wrapped into the bill. But Mr. Connolly said the president also should not veto the spending bill over the refugee issue.
Underscoring the political pressure on lawmakers in Washington, the attorney general of Texas filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the administration to try to block Syrian refugees from resettling there. Democrats on the Appropriations Committee are moving forward with a counter offer, according to a senior Democratic aide. Republicans have a wish list of riders they want to include in the spending bill, including conservative provisions targeting ObamaCare, as well as EPA and financial regulations.
On the spending bill, House Republicans planned to confer Thursday morning over their strategy.
“The proposal was an Appropriations Committee offer, constructed by the Appropriations Committee”, says AshLee Strong, a spokeswoman for speaker’s office. “We were in good faith, we were together and all the rest – and then, they took a turn”, Pelosi said, according to a Democrat in the room.
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He also praised Obama for tackling the visa-waiver system which governs many thousands more people than the refugee program and said he’s been in recent discussions with Republicans about how to move it through the House.
