UPDATED: The House of Representatives passed a $1.1 trillion spending bill on Thursday evening that would fully fund Pres. Obama's executive amnesty. The vote came after a 6-hour recess while Leaders from both parties tried to gather enough support to pass the measure and prevent a government shutdown. NumbersUSA will grade the vote as a vote for amnesty.
The bill passed 219-to-206 with 67 Republicans bucking their leadership and opposing the measure. 57 Democrats voted for the measure at the urging of Pres. Obama. Here's the full roll-call vote.
House Speaker John Boehner sent the following tweet moments after the bill passed, pledging to fight Obama's amnesty in the next Congress. However, without the leverage of a full spending bill, there's little GOP Leaders can do to force Obama to sign a bill defunding his amnesty.
"[B]y the House’s action, we are setting up a direct challenge to the president’s unilateral actions on immigration next month, when there will be new Republican majorities in both chambers. The Senate should act on this bipartisan legislation in short order."
5 p.m. CRomnibus in limbo; House in recess until further notice
The CRomnibus spending bill that would fully fund Pres. Obama's executive amnesty is currently on life support as Congressional Leaders decide what actions to take next. The House Resolution that establishes the rules for debate and officially brings the bill to the House floor passed by a very narrow margin, and after a two-hour debate, the House went into recess as reports indicated House Leaders didn't have enough votes to pass the bill.
House Democrats are expected to meet at 5:30 p.m. this evening to discuss a path forward. Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) delivered a passionate floor speech urging Democrats to oppose the legislation, but Pres. Obama, Vice Pres. Biden and other cabinet members were calling House Democrats asking for their support of the bill. Democratic votes are needed to pass the bill because a significant number of Republicans have vowed not to support the bill because it funds Obama's amnesty.
Reps. Steve King (R-Iowa) and Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) are pushing for a 60-day continuing resolution that defunds the President's amnesty to keep the government open and appease Republican Members.
Earlier in the day, the resolution to bring the bill to the floor nearly failed, but passed by a 214-to-212 margin. Moments before the vote ended, the 'no' votes outnumbered the 'yes' votes, but Reps. Kerry Benivolio (R-Mich.) and Marlin Stutzman (R-Ind.) switched their votes at the last minute. There were reports that Rep. Stutzman had offered to change his vote in exchange for a promise from GOP Leadership that they would pull the CRomnibus off the floor and replace it with a short-term continuing resolution. A short-term CR would give Republicans more leverage over Obama's amnesty after the first of the year even if the CR doesn't defund his amnesty.
