Your voices are winning in Congress right now, but the fight is far from over.
After a week of insisting on a long-term spending bill, House Republican Leaders are reported to be seriously considering a short-term spending bill because of intense pressure from a growing number of their Members who see that as the only way to eventually overturn Pres. Obama's threatened executive amnesty.
The approach, described by Washington Post reporter Robert Costa, is similar to the one advocated by Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) and used by our activists during this past week's massive phoning and faxing effort. Since Wednesday, NumbersUSA activists across the country have made more than 25,000 calls to Congressional Republicans. Costa wrote:
Instead of passing a spending bill in coming days that would fund the government through the end of the fiscal year, they are now mulling a short-term measure that expires early next year, according to more than a dozen top lawmakers and their aides who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.
When Congress reconvenes in the new year, Republicans would then pass other short-term bills, each designed to create a forum to push back against the president and, possibly, to gain concessions.
-- Washington Post, Nov. 14, 2014
Meanwhile, a new Politico report is also talking about the potential GOP strategy, and it has some Democrats concerned, including "Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and some White House officials".
[S]ome Senate Democrats quietly acknowledge that a sweeping order on deportations would likely make the funding bill even harder to pass.
"Privately, we'd prefer to see [executive action] wait until after the omnibus," one senior Senate Democratic aide said.
-- Politico, Nov. 14, 2014
The fact that both House Republicans and national news outlets are discussing the use of upcoming spending bills to defund Pres. Obama's executive amnesty can be largely credited to our large network of email and Facebook activists. In addition to the tens of thousands of phone calls, 144,344 faxes have also been sent to Congressional offices over the last week.
On Thursday, Rep. Matt Salmon (R-Ariz.) sent a letter with signatures from at least 60 other House Republicans to Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.), who chairs the powerful House Appropriations Committee, pressing him to use the spending bills to defund Pres. Obama's amnesty. The Committee is tasked with drawing up legislation that funds the federal government, and Rogers has been insistent on drafting a bill that would fund the government through September of 2015.
But, according to the Politico report, more Congressional Republicans are lining up behind Salmon and Sessions than Rogers and top GOP Leaders.
The factor most likely to prevent a quick announcement [of Pres. Obama's executive amnesty] is the debate over government funding.
Conservatives are rumbling about using the must-pass measure to block the immigration action -- a threat that is worrying House GOP leadership.
-- Politico
Also, Reps. Marsha Blackburn and Steve King penned op-eds calling on other House Republicans to support using the budget process to defund Pres. Obama's amnesty. Rep. Blackburn also pledged to re-introduce her bill in the next Congress that would block funding for issuing work permits to illegal aliens. Her bill was passed by the House earlier this year.
Despite the optimistic news, we can't let up now! It's been the incredible pressure from our activists that has helped amplify the Sessions strategy. But until all the necessary legislative steps are taken, we must continue to keep the pressure on House Republicans.
CHRIS CHMIELENSKI is the Director of Content & Activism for NumbersUSA
