House GOP may respond to immigration next week

House Republican leaders have reserved floor time next week to move legislation responding to President Obama’s executive order freezing deportations for as many as 5 million illegal immigrants.

The House Republican Conference will meet Tuesday morning to discuss its options and leaders hope to move a bill before the end of next week, a senior GOP aide confirmed.

{mosads}Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has vowed to fight Obama “tooth and nail” over immigration and is mulling expanding a lawsuit against the president’s use of executive power.

Conservatives are urging him to attach a policy rider to legislation funding the government beyond Dec. 11 that would bar the administration from carrying out Obama’s immigration order. 

One possibility would be to pass legislation funding most of government through September, the end of the fiscal year, but extending immigration-related funding only for a few months, setting up a policy battle early next year.

A Congressional Research Service report issued to Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) on Nov. 21 concluded that Congress has the power to defund Obama’s executive action.

CRS found that lawmakers could limit the use of funds even if they are collected through fees outside the annual appropriations process.

The House Appropriations Committee, seeking to dodge a fight that could sink the omnibus spending bill, a high priority of Chairman Hal Rogers (R-Ky.), issued a statement this month asserting it would be “impossible” to defund the immigration order through spending legislation.

The committee argued that its ability to defund the administration was limited because U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is entirely funded through the fees it collects on immigration applications.

Boehner has not ruled out the possibility of a government shutdown though he wants to avoid taking the political hit his party suffered in 2013 after a 16-day shutdown provoked by the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.

He said earlier this month that “our goal here is to stop the president from violating his oath of office and violating the Constitution.”

Incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has taken a more forceful approach with restive conservatives by vowing not to allow any government shutdowns or defaults on the national debt.

Some conservatives have floated the possibility of impeachment but GOP leaders have urged restraint.