Goodlatte Proposal Sinks; Can the Compromise Bill Swim?

Despite the fact that President Trump has given support for two GOP-authored bills — one hardline and one more compromised — there stands a good chance that both will have been rejected by House Republicans within the next few days.

On Thursday, the House gave a big thumbs-down to the more conservative “Goodlatte bill,” voting 193-231, with every single Democrat saying “no” and 41 Republicans halting its success.

As for the compromise package, the outlook is grim: it was rescheduled for a Friday vote before being calendared for next week.

Nevertheless, some conservatives took it as good news that the Goodlatte submission came so close to getting through. Many had predicted it would fail much more gloriously; yet, it came within 20 votes of passage.

According to HuffPost, two House Republicans said they believed that, with a more aggressive marketing of the bill, it — or some version of it — could succeed.

Trump told GOP members of the House Tuesday that he backed both bills “1000 percent.” Thursday morning, however, rather than tweeting his support, he questioned the sanity of voting when 9 Senate Democrats were required for passage into law.

As he had previously, Trump asserted the Senate filibuster must be removed from process (explained here).

It should come as no surprise if Trump’s tweet cost the House a few GOP “ayes.”

Last week, Trump had confused lawmakers by stating that he would not endorse any bill that was too “moderate” (learn more here). To garner his support, the President required any bill to include his “four pillars” of reform (explained here).

A potential deathblow to even the compromise bill is the fact that, in giving Republicans two choices, moderates and conservatives may indeed cast a vote for one to the exclusion of the other, potentially halving the power of either.

Moreover, Democrats weren’t a substantial part of the negotiating for the compromise bill, which forecasts a blockade against its ultimate success.

Both bills fund a border wall, end the the diversity visa program, and imprison children with their parents (because that’s what the Democrats wanted?). As for the DACA program, the Goodlatte bill would grant existing participants the right to renew their legality every three years, with no offering of permanent citizenship. The compromise plan would make a larger number of illegals eligible, only having to renew every six years.

Democrats, of course, want voters–I mean, want legal status granted to Dreamers and a little more border security.

Still, before the vote of the Goodlatte package, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan remained optimistic Thursday:

“I actually think we’re advancing the cause even if something doesn’t necessarily pass. I think we’re making advancements because we’re putting ideas on the table.”

Do you think the bill has a chance? Let me know in the Comments section below.

For another article on immigration, please check out my piece on what it means to be “illegal.”

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