Conservatives Threaten 'Revolt' if Boehner Rushes Immigration Bill Through House

by Matthew Boyle 11 Apr 2013, 1:10 PM PDT
breitbart.com

http://cdn.breitbart.com/mediaserver...ner_sad_ap.jpg

Representative Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) said at a Thursday press conference that House Republicans will rise up against GOP leadership if House Speaker John Boehner tries to rush any immigration reform bill through his chamber of Congress.

“There would be a revolt among Republicans” if Boehner abandoned regular order on this issue, Rohrabacher said in response to a question from Breitbart News at the presser.

According to a recent Politico report, Boehner is seriously considering abandoning regular order to rush through immigration reform. Regular orders is the process by which a bill is supposed to come up through the respective committees of jurisdiction and allow members of those committees to offer amendments, an open and transparent process that then is supposed to continue on the House floor.

“The GOP is also mulling skipping the committee process and instead having lengthy discussions among Republicans to work out the legislation’s kinks,” Politico’s Jake Sherman wrote in the report. “This would allow leading conservatives who are crafting the deal with Democrats to explain the policy. That seems to be the preferred path, according to conversations with several GOP aides.”

If Boehner follows this strategy, he would be abandoning one of the key promises he made to get re-elected as Speaker just a few months ago while several conservative members tried to unseat him. At the time, he guaranteed he would return the House to regular order on all legislation, a promise that ended up helping him turn some who had planned to oppose his re-election as Speaker back into supporters.

In the end, only 12 of the 17 members needed to derail his reelection did not vote for Boehner, allowing him to squeak by in his re-election.

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX), who was also at the Thursday press conference, responded to Breitbart News’ question about members’ reaction to reports that Boehner might abandon regular order, saying he hopes Boehner keeps his promise. “He has pledged absolutely that we are following regular order,” Gohmert said. But Gohmert said if Boehner abandons it for even this bill, “the Speaker would make himself a liar.”

Rep. Lou Barletta (R-PA), another House member at the presser, said he had asked House GOP leadership in writing whether Boehner will hold true to his promise of regular order on the forthcoming immigration legislation. He said he received reassurances that the House would follow regular order.

Over on the Senate side, conservatives have similar worries about the still-unfinished immigration bill from the bipartisan “Gang of Eight.” A battle for transparency in the process has been brewing between those on the Gang of Eight and conservatives in the Senate.

With help from the Republican establishment, Democratic Senate leadership is expected to race an immigration bill through the Senate once it is introduced with little public input or hearings.

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Governm...OP-will-revolt

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Boehner: There’s no rule that says I need a Republican majority in order to pass bills in the House

APRIL 11, 2013
BY ALLAHPUNDIT


This is exactly what you want to hear with bills on gun control and immigration in the pipeline.
Dude, I’m nervous.

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) signaled Thursday that he may continue to bypass a House Republican rule [i.e. the "Hastert Rule"] that has required any legislation being voted upon to have the support of a majority of the GOP conference…
He said at a news conference Thursday that he will continue to try and follow it in spirit, but also suggested he might well violate it for upcoming votes on guns, immigration and the budget.
“Listen: It was never a rule to begin with,” Boehner said. “And certainly my prerogative – my intention is to always pass bills with strong Republican support.”

He’s violated the Hastert Rule several times on budgetary matters, most notably the fiscal-cliff deal (and as recently as two days ago), but caving on cultural hot-buttons like background checks and amnesty has the makings of a Category Five shinolastorm among the base. Some House conservatives are already warning him not to cross the line:

The effort is being led by Reps. Paul Broun, a Senate hopeful gunning for Georgia’s open seat, and Steve Stockman, a Texas Republican who gained notoriety earlier this year for inviting rocker/2nd Amendment-defender Ted Nugent to the State of the Union.
“We are writing to express our strong opposition to legislation requiring private sale background checks for firearms purchases,” the letter reads. “Under the precedents and traditions of the House, we would ask that no gun legislation be brought to the floor of the House unless it has the support of a majority of our caucus.”…
A spokesman for Rep. Stockman says more than 45 Republicans have signed the letter, although it’s doubtful a “Hastert majority” of the House GOP will endorse it.

Other House members are warning him to follow regular order on immigration and not try to rush the bill through. Could a bill even get through GOP-dominated House committees, though? The only way to get something passed might be to violate both the Hastert Rule and regular order: Bypass the committees, rush something to the floor, and then hope that a unanimous Democratic caucus and critical mass of 30 or so GOP squishes rams it through. The question is, what if that happens? Will the caucus, under the microscope of a shady amnesty vote, be forced to oust him as Speaker? Or is Jonathan Bernstein right that tea-party congressmen kind of like the idea of seeing popular legislation pass, which arguably helps the party in the aggregate, while being able to vote no on it, which helps them in their home districts? It’s certainly true that, for all of Boehner’s anti-Hastert-Rule heresies, there’s been no serious effort to depose him. But maybe on immigration and, especially, on guns, the caucus would have no choice. If a bad bill passes and they don’t dump him, conservatives back home might hold it against them regardless of whether they voted no on the bill itself.

http://hotair.com/archives/2013/04/1...-in-the-house/

The real Conservatives should have thrown Mr. Fake Tan John Boehner out before now. I can't believe that guy used have his campaign staff calling ALIPAC asking us to fly up to Ohio to speak as his campaign events. What an amnesty pushing sellout!

W