Livid Rep. Mark Meadows yells at Speaker Paul Ryan on House floor

Livid Rep. Mark Meadows yells at Speaker Paul Ryan on House floor

June 20, 2018

Chad Pergram, Anne Ball

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The chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus angrily confronted House Speaker Paul Ryan over immigration legislation on the floor of the House of Representatives Wednesday.




Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., approached Ryan during a vote and began an animated discussion that lasted roughly half a minute. Both men pointed fingers at each other and reporters in the gallery could hear Meadows say, "I'm done! I'm done!" Meadows then turned and walked away while Ryan resumed chatting with other members.
Sources tell Fox News that the dispute stemmed from confusion over which of two immigration bills the House is expected to consider Thursday


The more conservative legislation has been dubbed "Goodlatte," after the bill's author, Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va. But a second bill, commonly called the "compromise" bill, has also been referred to as "Goodlatte," since he’s a sponsor of that package as well. Notably, House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., rebranded the compromise bill "the president's bill" instead of the "leadership" bill.


House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., left, and Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., were seen in a heated confrontation on the House floor. (AP, File)


Adding to the confusion, the House has also been toying with a third piece of legislation, a modified version of the conservative Goodlatte bill.


To try to clear up the confusion, the GOP leadership handled lawmakers some talking points about the compromise bill. However, Meadows claimed the "talking points don’t match the text" and "are not really for prime time."




"This was a communication issue where the leadership compromise bill omitted key provisions that had been agreed upon beforehand," Meadows spokesman Ben Williamson said in a statement. "We are working to resolve it."


Multiple Republican members told Fox News they were disturbed by the skirmish on the floor between Ryan and Meadows. One source said a few members who were a "hard yes" on the immigration legislation were now "squirming" after seeing the confrontation.


Though President Trump endorsed both the compromise and Goodlatte iterations of the bill in a meeting with House Republicans on Tuesday evening, lawmakers have struggled to secure the 215 votes necessary for passage. Earlier Wednesday, a senior House GOP source described the process to Fox News as an "uphill" battle.


Fox News' Samuel Chamberlain and The Associated Press contributed to this report.




http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018...floor.amp.html

Report: Paul Ryan, Mark Meadows Spar Over Immigration



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June 20, 2018



House Speaker Paul Ryan and Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows squared off Wednesday in a tense discussion on the floor over immigration.
"It doesn't matter anymore," Meadows, the North Carolina Republican, told Ryan on the floor in comments that could be heard from the House press gallery, The Hill reports.


Meadows, in his third term, then told Florida GOP Rep. Carlos Curbelo that he would sign a discharge petition backed by Democrats and some Republicans that would lead to votes on four immigration bills.


"I'll sign the dang discharge petition," Meadows said, according to the Hill. "I don't care anymore."


Meadows later said he was not serious about signing the petition, telling reporters instead he was frustrated with the Republican leadership.


The conservative Freedom Caucus has long sparred with President Donald Trump and other GOP leaders.


He said Ryan, who represents Wisconsin, left out two provisions in an immigration compromise bill, Meadows declined to be more specific.


"There were things that were supposed to be in the compromise bill that we had all agreed to," Meadows said, according to the Hill. "I finished reading it today.
"I was told there were two things in there that are not in there."


The House is expected to vote on two immigration bills Thursday, the compromise bill and a harder-line measure.


Republican leaders are working to garner enough votes on the compromise measure, but conservatives strongly oppose the measure.


That bill would bar the federal immigration officials from separating children and families at the U.S. border.


President Trump signed an executive order ending the separations Wednesday, but he called on Congress to pass legislation to do the same.


https://www.newsmax.com/politics/mar.../20/id/867360/

Republican House member unloads on Paul Ryan in explosive floor exchange


June 20, 2018



(CNN)On the eve of two major immigration votes, weeks of hard-fought negotiations took a turn with a heated blowup on the House floor between two lead negotiators.




House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows, a conservative Republican from North Carolina, erupted at House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin over their agreement involving two major immigration bills, saying several times, "I'm done," while pointing in an animated fashion at the top House Republican and raising his voice as their colleagues watched.



The explosion drew widespread attention from inside the chamber and out -- and surfaced once again the long-simmering tension between House Republican leadership and the conservative bloc of lawmakers that has, at times, wreaked havoc on Ryan and his leadership's teams best-laid plans on topics ranging from government spending and health care to the farm bill and -- repeatedly -- immigration.



"The compromise bill is not ready for prime time," Meadows told reporters off the House floor who witnessed the exchange. "I'll leave it at that."



Meadows playfully downplayed the encounter when pressed on why he was yelling at the speaker.



"Oh, no," he responded. "I was passionate."



In his frustration on the floor, Meadows even threatened at one point to sign the discharge petition, a controversial measure that would prompt a series of votes on four competing immigration bills -- including some backed by Democrats. He later told reporters he wasn't considering signing the discharge petition.



GOP leaders have desperately tried to avoid the discharge petition, which is why they have brokered the current deal between the Freedom Caucus and more moderate Republicans -- an agreement set to reach its climax on Thursday with votes on only two bills. One bill appeals more to conservatives -- authored by Rep. Bob Goodlatte of Virginia -- while the other, known as the compromise bill, is favored more by moderates.


The North Carolina congressman argued there were two things he expected to be in the compromise bill that weren't in there, but he refused to go into specifics. Rep. Patrick McHenry, the chief deputy whip, who's also from North Carolina, told reporters after a meeting in the speaker's office Wednesday night that the dispute had been the result of a "miscommunication" between staff and members.


The outcome of the immigration votes was already in doubt, and after the exchange with Ryan, Meadows said he didn't know if the Thursday votes would still occur. "I don't know when the vote is," Meadows said. McHenry would tell reporters a short while later that the immigration votes would still take place Thursday.


Moderate Republican Rep. Carlos Curbelo of Florida, another key negotiator who was standing very close to the blowup on the floor, said he thinks critics of the bill like Meadows are becoming wary of growing support for the measure.



"They're starting to get very anxious about it. We've worked very hard to keep our commitments and to be flexible throughout this process," Curbelo said. "I truly hope that colleagues who up to a couple days ago were at the table working with us constructively would not turn around and try to blow up our agreement."


The Trump administration has launched a full-court press in support of both bills. President Donald Trump, Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen have each appeared on Capitol Hill in the past two days to urge Republicans to back both bills.


"I don't think anyone thought we would get this far, and apparently that's causing some anxiety," Curbelo said, adding it was fair to characterize the last-minute drama as Meadows and allies moving the goalposts in the eleventh hour.


McHenry disputed that description.


"He's been highly engaged in the process," McHenry said of Meadows to reporters. "We've had a very open conversation, and there are some drafting issues that can be remedied."


He said leadership would try to address the issue Wednesday night.


https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/20/polit...nge/index.html

House GOP in disarray ahead of key immigration votes


June 20, 2018



WASHINGTON – House Republicans appeared to be in disarray Wednesday over a looming immigration debate, sparring over key details of two GOP immigration bills just hours before the competing proposals were set to hit the floor.


The fight spilled into public view Wednesday on the House floor, when North Carolina Rep. Mark Meadows, chairman of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus, confronted Speaker Paul Ryan during a late-afternoon vote.
Meadows could be heard telling Ryan “I’m done” during their heated exchange.
After the clash, the North Carolina Republican told reporters that one of the immigration bills – a compromise measure crafted by Ryan – was “not ready for prime time.”


He said it did not include key provisions that Ryan had promised in his negotiations with conservatives. Meadows refused to say exactly what was left out, but he said he would vote "no" on the bill as it stands.


AshLee Strong, a spokeswoman for Ryan, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.


“The compromise bill is not ready for prime time today,” Meadows told reporters. "The talking points do not match the legislative text."


Later Wednesday evening, a spokesman for Meadows said the congressman had a "good conversation" with Ryan and they were working to resolve "a communications issue" on the compromise bill.


That compromise was supposed to bridge the divide between conservatives like Meadows and moderate Republicans who want legal protections for the "Dreamers," undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children.
Under Ryan's bill, an estimated 1.8 million "Dreamers" would be able to apply for “nonimmigrant status”– essentially a conditional visa – if they meet certain conditions. If the "Dreamers" win that nonimmigrant status, then after six years, they would be able to apply for a green card, which will set them on the path to eventual citizenship.


Trump threw the "Dreamers" into legal limbo when he nixed an Obama-era program called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which granted them temporary legal status and work permits.



Moderates had demanded a path to citizenship for the "Dreamers," while conservatives wanted stronger enforcement measures and cuts to legal immigration. On that front, the Ryan bill would end a diversity lottery program and limit family-based immigration. The visas from those two programs would be given to the "Dreamers" until that pipeline of undocumented immigrants is empty; then those visas would dry up, eventually leading to reductions in legal immigration.



Ryan's bill also includes more than $23 billion in funding for President Trump’s proposed wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and other security measures. Overall, the GOP proposal adheres closely to the "four pillars" that Trump said in January he wanted as part of any immigration deal.



It is set for a House vote on Thursday, along with another immigration bill written by Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., and other immigration hawks. That more conservative bill would provide legal protections, but not citizenship, to about about 700,000 "Dreamers." It would also fund Trump's border wall and require employers to use the "e-verify" system to make sure their employees are legally allowed to work in the U.S.



Democrats are expected to oppose both GOP bills. The Goodlatte bill does not have enough GOP support to pass, and it's not clear if Ryan's compromise bill has the votes either.



If both bills fail, it would further spotlight the deep Republican divisions on a key election issue just five months before voters head to the polls. It would also be a blow to Ryan, who has spent weeks trying to forge a compromise between two warring GOP factions on this politically volatile issue.



Contributing: Eliza Collins


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Chad Pergram






@ChadPergram


Meadows spokesman on the donnybrook on the flr between Meadows and Ryan: "This was a communication issue where the leadership compromise bill omitted key provisions that had been agreed upon beforehand. We are working to resolve it."

It looks like Ryan's "You have to vote for it to find out what's in it" proposal. I hope this torpedoes all of them!

Mickey Kaus





@kausmickey

Why does Scalise think more time will *help* Ryan's amnesty? With the emotional family-separation controversy fading, it will become increasingly apparent to the GOP base what leadership's trying to do. Rushing it through, a la omnibus, was the plan for a reason.
Mickey Kaus


@kausmickey


Not collapsing fast enough! GOP whip @SteveScalise wants to delay the vote to give himself more time to twist arms for amnesty. Good reason to keep calling or tweeting against the Ryan bill: 202 224 3121 or (link: https://www.house.gov/representatives) house.gov/representatives (link: https://twitter.com/DavidMDrucker/st...58739735760897) twitter.com/DavidMDrucker/…

Dave Brat said tonight on The Ingraham Angle that he believes both bills (Goodlatte, Ryan Compromise) are not going to pass.

Related:

Ryan and Meadows clash on House floor, leaving immigration bills on thin ice

https://www.alipac.us/f12/ryan-meado...in-ice-359783/

Ryan, Goodlatte, & Trump Pull Triple Bait and Switch On Amnesty Bills

For National Release | June 21, 2018
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TAKE ACTION AND CALL CONGRESS TO OPPOSE THESE AMNESTY BILLS BEFORE THEY VOTE TODAY AT....
https://www.alipac.us/f8/key-destroying-amnesty-bill-emerges-final-hours-359809/