The House today delayed a vote on Rep. Mike McCaul’s Secure Our Borders First Act (H.R. 399), The Hill reports.. Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said the blizzard about to hit the Northeast caused the cancellation but Republican leaders knew that Democrats and a group of Republicans would not support the bill if it had been brought up on Wednesday as planned.
Pro-enforcement Republicans told The Hill the snowstorm was a convenient excuse for pulling a bill that had insufficient support. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., says the bill will not secure the borders as GOP leaders suggested and noted it would be fruitless to spend more money on the border while the Obama Administration allows in anyone making an asylum claim. Also, stricter interior enforcement must be pursued at the same time.
Other Republicans warned Senate Republican leaders might take up McCaul’s bill in lieu of legislation to block funding for the president’s executive amnesty. “Voting for a feeble border bill would just help the Senate leadership strip out the House defund measure,” said one Republican staffer. “GOP leaders are therefore having trouble whipping the votes – House members don’t want to help leaders across the chamber detract from their defund measure.”
Republican leaders will discuss the measure with their caucus on Tuesday but, for now, the vote has been postponed indefinitely.
Read more in The Hill.
