美国国家公共电台 NPR House GOP Leaders Forced To Again Delay Vote On Compromise Immigration Bill

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AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

We're going to hear now about congressional efforts to pass an immigration bill. The House of Representatives had planned on voting this afternoon on a bill written around President Trump¹'s immigration priorities. And with its passage in doubt, Republicans have delayed the vote until tomorrow. The GOP just can't get on the same page when it comes to immigration.

NPR's Scott Detrow is on Capitol Hill as he joins us now. Hey there, Scott.

SCOTT DETROW, BYLINE²: Hey, Audie.

CORNISH: So why is this so difficult when you have control of the House and the Senate?

DETROW: Yeah. There are some narrow compromises that likely would have bipartisan support, could pass pretty easily. Having protections for people in the Deferred³ Action for Childhood Arrivals program, pairing that with billions of dollars for border security - that would likely pass. But President Trump is insisting that any measure has to be broad and make changes to legal immigration as well, curbing⁴ it.

That loses all Democratic support. They're willing to trade for border security but not that. So then you're left with just Republicans. And the Republican Party is really split on immigration. There are many who want permanent protections for DACA. All of the Republican leaders do. But there is a significant chunk⁵ that wants to take a much more hard-line approach and generally views that idea as amnesty.

CORNISH: Given all this, why did House Speaker Paul Ryan move forward with these votes?

DETROW: Well, he's been forced into a corner by a group of moderate Republicans who were frustrated⁶ with the situation and were on the verge⁷ of siding with Democrats⁸ to force a vote on that narrower bill that the White House opposes. So House Speaker Paul Ryan, feeling the political pressure, came up with this compromise.

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PAUL RYAN: Because a discharge petition would have brought legislation to the floor that the president would have surely vetoed. It would have been an exercise in futility⁹. But a lot of our members want to be able to express themselves by voting for the policies that they like so that they can express their votes on the floor.

DETROW: And that was a bit of an admission there that part of this bill that has now been delayed is political theater, allowing votes even though it's unlikely to pass. But Ryan is in a real political bind¹⁰ right now. He's a lame¹¹ duck. He's retiring at the end of the year. He wants to remain speaker through then. And he needs to keep his members happy in order to stay in place.

CORNISH: But the president came to Capitol Hill - right? - and, like, lobbied House Republicans personally. What does it say that they're having such a hard time still finding the votes they need?

DETROW: Well, the president continually shifts where he stands on immigration, more broadly first saying he wants to see some sort of path for DACA, then having a real hard-line approach, and then this week going back and forth¹² on saying he couldn't change his policy on separating families and then proceeding¹³ to do exactly that. He did come to Capitol Hill to endorse¹⁴ this effort.

A couple problems, though - first of all, he said he endorsed¹⁵ any bill they would pass, not the specific endorsement¹⁶ for this measure that leaders were looking for. Second, during the meeting and then later on Twitter, he insulted South Carolina Republican Mark Sanford, who lost a primary this month mostly because he's criticized President Trump. Idaho Republican Raul Labrador said that attack may have lost Trump some votes on this bill.

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RAUL LABRADOR: The reason he was there was to emphasize that he had our backs, and I think a different message was sent during that day.

DETROW: So you see it again and again. With the exception of the big tax overhaul¹⁷ earlier this year, the president just has not been able to close deals. And when asked what specifically he wants with a lot of these policies, he either doesn't give a clear answer or gives a clear answer and then goes and changes his mind. So there's concern. Why should I take a tough vote if the president's going to undermine what I vote for the next day?

CORNISH: And what should we be looking for tomorrow? What's set to happen?

DETROW: I think a big question - does this vote even come up? If it does come up, does it fail? Most people expect it to fail. There's not that much optimism it'll pass. After that, are there calls for House Speaker Paul Ryan to step down early from leadership?

CORNISH: NPR's Scott Detrow - Scott, thank you.

DETROW: Thank you.

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