On his way out of the meeting with Democrats Thursday, Johnson said the House measure was “a bad bill because it seeks to micromanage the process in a way that is counterproductive to national security, to our humanitarian obligations and to the overall ability of us to focus on homeland security”.
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But it’s unclear when, or even if, the GOP-run Senate will take up the measure.
Sen. Chris Murphy is a main supporter of a bill unveiled this week that would tighten the “visa waiver” program. That allows people from 38 countries to enter the US for short stays – a program a few lawmakers say could be more vulnerable to terrorists trying to enter the country.
It would require the heads of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Homeland Security Department and the director of national intelligence to certify that each refugee is not a threat to national security.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., slotted the House bill for possible Senate consideration and said pausing the refugee process would be “the most reasonable and balanced thing for the administration to do”.
“Don’t worry, it won’t get passed”, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., told reporters.
Though the lopsided vote gives Republicans leverage and shows that many Democrats feel free to abandon the lame-duck president, Congress adjourned until after Thanksgiving and its next moves were uncertain.
The issue has lit up the presidential campaign trail, with Republicans divided and Democrats siding with the White House.
“Our position on this piece of legislation has not changed”, an official on board Air Force One, carrying Obama to a Southeast Asian summit in Malaysia on Friday, quoted White House spokesman Josh Earnest as saying.
A key difference is that visitors under the waiver program do not have to meet with US officials overseas before coming here.
“This is an area where additional scrutiny and reform could be useful in enhancing the home security of the United States”, he said.
The refugee issue was tied directly to concerns over the Islamic State, the terrorist group that has claimed credit for the Paris attacks and has prompted people to flee Iraq and Syria, where it controls territory. Obama wants to admit 10,000 more.
While he has been overseas, President Obama has mocking the Republicans about their stance the refugees after the Paris terror attack and at the same time, he has been defending his military strategy to combat terrorist organization ISIS.
The fight is already threatening to set up another government shutdown showdown as Congress must pass a crucial spending bill by December 11.
Meanwhile, the White House was scrambling to persuade Democratic lawmakers to keep the number of Democratic defections low in order to sustain Obama’s veto in case the bill passes in the Congress.
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Ben Carson, a leading 2016 Republican presidential candidate, likened Syrian refugees to “a rabid dog running around your neighborhood”, and said admitting them would put Americans at risk.
