GOP Immigration Divide Ratchets Up Pressure on Lame-Duck Speaker

Wall Street Journal

By Kristina Peterson and Siobhan Hughes

May 22, 2018

GOP Immigration Divide Ratchets Up Pressure on Lame-Duck Speaker

House Speaker Paul Ryan on Tuesday reiterated his intention to stay on the job through the rest of the year, despite tension inside the GOP ranks, where centrist Republicans are pressing forward with their plan to force immigration votes over his objections.

The immigration fight has already exposed Mr. Ryan’s diminishing clout as a lame-duck speaker, which has become more pronounced in the weeks since he announced April 11 that he will not run again for re-election. It also made clear House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s current unwillingness to push him out before the elections. Mr. McCarthy hasn’t yet secured enough votes to get elected speaker, despite at least one call from President Donald Trump trying to rally conservatives around him.

“Obviously I serve at the pleasure of the members,” Mr. Ryan (R., Wis.) told reporters Tuesday. “But I think we all agree, the best thing for us is to complete our agenda and not wedge into the middle…a divisive leadership election.”

Mr. Ryan’s decision to leave the House sets up a tense stretch of months where he has less sway over a group of House Republicans that has never been easy to corral.

The latest fight erupted when a group of centrist Republicans started a bipartisan push to force a series of immigration votes on the House floor. They are expected to secure enough support this week using a procedural tool called a discharge petition that would enable them to circumvent GOP leaders, who have been trying to quash their efforts.

Some conservatives, who don’t want to see bipartisan immigration bills come to the House floor, warned there could be backlash for GOP leaders if they can’t block them.

“There’s going to be a lot of dissatisfaction to go around for everybody involved,” said Rep. Scott Perry (R., Pa.) “If we run an amnesty bill out of a Republican House, I think all options are on the table,” regarding Mr. Ryan, he said. Last week, conservatives sank a farm bill on the House floor when they couldn’t reach an agreement with GOP leaders over how to proceed with immigration votes.

In a sign that Mr. Ryan is aware of the deep frustrations surrounding him, he took an unusually conciliatory tone with House Republicans in a closed-doors meeting Tuesday morning, said a House Republican. He didn’t single out the conservative House Freedom Caucus members for blame over the collapse of the farm bill, and gave members more than the usual one minute to voice their concerns, the lawmaker said. When GOP lawmakers complained, leaders didn’t push back and merely listened, the lawmaker said.

GOP leaders are also negotiating with centrist Republicans, trying to see if they can reach a deal enabling them to pass immigration legislation relying on GOP votes. But the centrists said they weren’t dropping their discharge petition, which is expected to bring up bipartisan legislation that would establish a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. at a young age.

“We’ve given leadership plenty of time,” said Rep David Valadao (R., Calif.), explaining why his group wasn’t backing down from GOP leaders’ opposition.

Even some members of GOP leadership acknowledged their goal would be difficult to reach, given how deeply divided Republicans are over many different immigration policy flashpoints.

“There is no fairy dust in Congress, therefore we have no immigration bill,” said Rep. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina, the House GOP’s chief deputy whip.

Conservatives said that they would be outraged if the discharge petition is successful and brings a series of bills up for a vote in June. But it isn’t clear they are ready to try to oust Mr. Ryan.

“It takes an amazing amount of political will to say ‘we know you’re going, but we’re going to push you out early,’’” said Rep. Mark Sanford (R., S.C.), a member of the Freedom Caucus, which has roughly three dozen members. “I don’t think the immigration issue at this point represents that tipping point.”

Mr. Ryan has endorsed Mr. McCarthy to succeed him next year, but lawmakers and aides don’t believe Mr. McCarthy currently has the roughly 218 votes that he would need to get elected speaker on the House floor.

Mr. Trump, who enjoys a close relationship with Mr. McCarthy, has tried to help rally support for him, by calling Rep. Mark Meadows (R., N.C.), the chairman of the Freedom Caucus, and asking if conservatives could coalesce around Mr. McCarthy, according to a House Republican.

As the anointed successor, Mr. McCarthy has the advantage at the start, but that will be perceived as ebbing the longer it takes him to seize power, according to lawmakers and aides. House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R., La.) has said he won’t challenge Mr. McCarthy, but he is expected to run for speaker if Mr. McCarthy can’t win enough support.

Mr. McCarthy has said he expects Mr. Ryan to remain as speaker until January. On Tuesday he said a report suggesting he was considering trying to force Mr. Ryan out was false.

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