John Boehner announced his plan to both respond to the president’s immigration executive orders and keep the government open. The Speaker’s scheme is a thinly veiled cave to Obama that equals another presidential victory.
Politico reported,
Speaker John Boehner announced Tuesday in a closed Republican meeting that the House would vote to disapprove of President Barack Obama’s executive action on immigration this week and will vote to fund the government next week.
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The two-part plan, which GOP leadership laid out Monday evening to some lawmakers, is designed to give Republicans an opportunity to express displeasure with the White House’s move on immigration while avoiding a shutdown.
Boehner’s allies are claiming that the Speaker’s plan isn’t a cave, which is a big sign that the Speaker has caved. Rep. Rob Pittinger (R-NC) said, “I don’t think you’re caving when you’re trying to restrict the president who has been unconstitutional. I think you’re taking every initiative that is possible at this point so he’s not a position to enact the provisions he chooses to do.”
The fallback position of the Speaker’s allies appears to involve throwing their arms up in the air while screaming at the top of their lungs that President Obama is a dictator/emperor. What this means in practical terms is that House Republicans are going throw a tantrum and stomp their feet, but at the end of the day, they don’t have the guts to shut down the government right before Christmas.
To put it another way, President Obama won.
The passage of Boehner’s plan depends on his ability to sell it to his fellow Republicans. Since John Boehner is the worst salesperson in American politics, it is very possible that his plan crashes and burns as his own Republicans refuse to support it.
If the Republicans support Speaker Boehner’s scheme, their vote will be a tacit admission that the president has outmaneuvered and defeated his Republican opponents again. The plan that Boehner is floating is a cave to reality.
Republicans don’t have a leg to stand on as it relates to opposing the president’s executive orders. There is nothing that they can do. Rep. Boehner has already lost. The Ohio Republican’s plan is a smokescreen that is intended to hide another crushing defeat.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
