Thread: GOP Lawmaker Wants to Force Vote on Bill Protecting DACA

GOP lawmaker wants to force vote on bill protecting DACA recipients

BY Cristina MARCOS - 08/31/17 04:56 PM EDT


A House Republican said Thursday he will launch an effort to force a vote on his bipartisan legislation shielding young immigrants who came to the U.S. illegally as children.



A House Republican said Thursday he will launch an effort to force a vote on his bipartisan legislation shielding young immigrants who came to the U.S. illegally as children from deportation.

Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.) announced he will file a discharge petition next week when the chamber returns to session. The move is all the more striking given that discharge petitions are usually a tool used by the House minority party.

Coffman’s announcement came amid multiple reports on Thursday that President Trump is expected to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program as soon as Friday. Nearly 800,000 people who came to the U.S. illegally as children have been granted work permits and deferred deportation under the program created under President Obama in 2012.



“#DACA participants grew up here, went to school here, and should be allowed to stay here. The time has come to take action,” Coffman wrote on Twitter.

At least 218 members must sign onto a discharge petition to trigger a House floor vote and circumvent the House majority party leadership.

Discharge petitions are rarely successful, except in cases where there’s a wide bipartisan coalition in favor of advancing a piece of legislation. The last time a discharge petition worked was in 2015 when House GOP leaders wouldn’t schedule a vote on a bill reauthorizing the Export-Import Bank.

Before that, a discharge petition hadn’t successfully been used to dislodge a bill since 2002 for the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform.

Coffman’s bill, which he introduced in January with Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (D-Ill.), would extend work permits and deportation deferrals issued under DACA. It would only provide the provisional extension for three years, as a way to push Congress to pass longer-term immigration reform.

Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) have introduced companion legislation in the Senate.

It’s likely that most, if not all, 194 House Democrats would sign onto Coffman’s discharge petition, meaning he would need at least 23 GOP colleagues to endorse his effort.

So far, only 12 mostly centrist Republicans have cosponsored Coffman’s legislation.

Members of the House majority party rarely sign onto, let alone create, discharge petitions given how they would embarrass leadership.

Democrats have filed multiple discharge petitions this year to force votes on bills to demand Trump’s tax returns and an independent investigation into how Russia influenced the 2016 elections.

Only one Republican, Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.), signed onto the Democratic discharge petition that would require the release of Trump’s tax returns. However, neither bill ever had a realistic chance of success given the widespread opposition among Republicans.

Coffman is considered one of the most vulnerable House Republicans heading into the 2018 midterms, given that Hillary Clinton won his district in last year’s election.

Other House Republicans in support of DACA have moved in recent days to pressure Trump to keep the program intact.

Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.) filed amendments to an upcoming government spending package slated for House floor consideration next week that would prohibit the use of funds to change the Department of Homeland Security memo that created DACA. Another amendment he co-sponsored with Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) would allow DACA recipients to serve as government employees.

The House Rules Committee, which is controlled by GOP leaders, is expected to decide next week whether Curbelo’s amendments can get floor votes. House conservatives like Reps. Steve King (R-Iowa) and Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) have submitted amendments that would eliminate DACA.


http://origin-nyi.thehill.com/blogs/...aca-recipients

Oh look at those crazy idiots, discharge petitions to benefit illegal aliens. Do-Nothings for Americans, but jumping through hoops for illegal aliens. Every single one of these traitors needs the boot out of the Congress in 2018.

Wow, has Trump forced their hands to show their true colors, open borders wolves in sheeps clothing. Oh my God how they disgust me.

Rep. Coffman Plans Discharge Petition to Try to Save DACA


Thursday, August 31, 2017 09:02 PM


By: Cathy Burke

A GOP lawmaker will attempt a rarely used gambit to force a vote on a bill extending protections for illegal immigrants brought to the United States as children, Politico reported.


Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Colo., said he will file what is known as a "discharge petition" to force action on his proposal when he returns to Capitol Hill in September.

He announced the plan in a series of tweets Thursday.

(1/3): I have introduced the #BRIDGEAct in Congress to protect #DACArecipients
— Rep. Mike Coffman (@RepMikeCoffman) August 31, 2017

(2/3): When I return to D.C., I will file a discharge petition to force a floor vote on the #BRIDGEAct.
— Rep. Mike Coffman (@RepMikeCoffman) August 31, 2017

(3/3): #DACA participants grew up here, went to school here, and should be allowed to stay here. The time has come to take action.
— Rep. Mike Coffman (@RepMikeCoffman) August 31, 2017

According to Politico, if Coffman persuades a majority of the House to join him, the lower chamber will have to take up the measure later in September.

The rarely used maneuver comes amid reports President Donald Trump might roll back an Obama-era program known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which has protected about 800,000 immigrants from deportation and provided work permits.

According to Politico, Coffman's bill already has 12 Republican co-sponsors in the House, in addition to Coffman. In the Senate, a companion measure was introduced by GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and it has support from Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Jeff Flake, R-Ariz.


Related Stories:

• Democrats Promise to Save 'Dreamers' Program
• Report: 700,000 Jobs at Risk If Trump Ends DACA

https://www.newsmax.com/Politics/dac.../31/id/811011/

Arizona, if you didn't have a reason before, you sure have a reason now to send Flake out of the US Senate. And Alaska, aren't you getting sick of Lisa Murkowski standing in the way of making American great again??!! South Carolina, what is it about that goofy Lindsey Graham that you like so much? He is so bad for America, he's just terrible for US.

Rep Rep. Coffman needs to be thrown out of office in 2018!!!

W

YES HE DOES!!!

Originally Posted by Judy

Oh look at those crazy idiots, discharge petitions to benefit illegal aliens. Do-Nothings for Americans, but jumping through hoops for illegal aliens. Every single one of these traitors needs the boot out of the Congress in 2018.

Wow, has Trump forced their hands to show their true colors, open borders wolves in sheeps clothing. Oh my God how they disgust me.

Trump can take absolutey no credit for this and isn't forcing anyones hand. Actually it is Trump's hand that is being forced.

All the credit goes to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, nine other state attorneys general and the governor of Idaho.

I have no problem at all with giving all the credit to the states in the lawsuit to end DACA for ending DACA!

Rep. Mike Coffman
@RepMikeCoffman


(2/3): When I return to D.C., I will file a discharge petition to force a floor vote on the #BRIDGEAct.
4:20 PM · Aug 31, 2017



https://mobile.twitter.com/RepMikeCoffman

He's an idiot.