Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Centrist Republicans Just Declared Open Revolt Against Paul Ryan Over Immigration

Centrist Republicans Just Declared Open Revolt Against Paul Ryan Over Immigration
U.S. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) answers questions during related primarily to his announcement that he will not run for office again in the 2018 midterm election. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Sick and tired of inaction.

The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) was an executive action taken by President Barack Obama in 2012 due to inaction on immigration reform, specifically the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act. The law was meant to address the question of what to do about the undocumented immigrants brought into the United States as children by their parents.

Do you punish a person for an action they had no control over?


Instead of amnesty, it allowed undocumented immigrants brought to the US while under the age of 16, to apply for protection against deportation. After a background check, those approved individuals could get renewable two-year permits to work and study in the United States.

In September 2017, President Donald Trump announced he would end DACA. At the time approximately 700,000 people, often referred to as DREAMers, fell under its protection.

Since then, activity on the DREAM Act or anything similar stagnated again in a Republican controlled congress. Now, 20 members of the GOP, facing pressure from their home districts, decided enough is enough.

“We’ve had it,” said Michigan GOP Representative Fred Upton. “We’re boiling over. It’s got to get done.”

It does not help their reelection chances when the president tweets about inactivity on DACA. Trump may blame Democrats for the lack of immigration reform legislation, but each time he does, voters are reminded that the GOP controlled both houses of congress during the entire DACA period.

In an act of defiance against their own lame duck Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan, 20 centrist leaning Republicans want to force a vote on immigration in the House of Representatives. To that end, they signed a discharge petition.

“You just wake up one day and realize that you’re running in place, and that’s when we got together and said it’s time to take this step,” said Representative Carlos Curbelo of Florida, who filed the discharge petition. “This institution acts only when pressured to, and we knew that we needed to find a new source of pressure.”

Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican, announced in April he would not seek reelection in November. However GOP strategists continue to support blocking any immigration reform votes in congress out of fear of losing votes in the midterm elections.

But not every Republican is on board with that strategy. Feeling pressure from their home districts during this election year, at least these 20 GOP house members want to move immigration votes to the house floor for consideration.

In United States government procedure, a discharge petition brings a bill out of committee and to the floor for consideration without a report from the committee by "discharging" the committee from further consideration of a bill or resolution. It also bypasses the Republican Speaker of the House, the stumbling block for immigration votes since the Obama administration.

But these 20 signatures are just a drop in the bucket.

A successful discharge petition requires an absolute majority to take effect in the House of Representatives. The petition requires 218 signatures total, 198 more than what they had.

Current house membership includes 193 Democrats. Even if every Democrat were to sign the petition to force action on DACA, the GOP members who began the push need to recruit 5 more Republicans.

The 20 Republican petition signers range in seniority from Fred Upton, finishing his 16th term in the house representing Michigan, to John Faso, a freshman representing a district in Upstate New York.

The current back and forth of the immigration debate within the Republican party goes at least as far back as the administration of George W. Bush. But the GOP strategy, of action through absolute inaction, is wearing thin among some members of the party and their constituents back home.

But can the 20 find 5 more Republicans who want to force a vote during an election year? And can they get all 193 Democrats to sign? At last reporting, total signatures were 196 but with still just 20 Republicans.

The debate is heating up on social media, with voters and elected officials weighing in on both sides.

More from News

Screenshot of Michael Waltz
Fox News

Trump Official Dragged After Suggesting 'Atlantic' Editor 'Hacked' Into Signal Group Chat

Speaking to Fox News personality Laura Ingraham, national security adviser Michael Waltz suggested that Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg hacked his phone to gain access to a Signal chat with high-level Trump administration officials, particularly Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, discussing military strategy surrounding war strikes in Yemen.

Waltz made this claim even though he had previously acknowledged setting up the Signal group in question, while President Donald Trump suggested that it was one of Waltz’s associates who added Goldberg.

Keep ReadingShow less
Denzel Washington
Ivan Romano/Getty Images

Denzel Washington Sparks Debate After Pushing Back On Being Called A 'Hollywood Actor'

If you ever get a chance to talk to Denzel Washington about his acting craft, be careful how you address him.

Big-time actors Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal are currently starring in a Broadway rendition of Othello, which is the first Shakespeare play to be produced on Broadway in more than 40 years, alongside other big actors and producers traditionally found in Hollywood-based productions.

Keep ReadingShow less
Pedro Pascal
Jimmy Kimmel Live/YouTube

Pedro Pascal Left Red-Faced After Photo Reveals His Bonkers Morning Coffee Order

There are some things that should be between you and the person you worked with to get it: your medical prescriptions, the number of packages you receive from online shopping, and your coffee order.

Actor Pedro Pascal was recently being interviewed on Jimmy Kimmel Live when the host brought up how a paparazzi had accidentally revealed Pascal's coffee order in an image from last year.

Keep ReadingShow less
Gwyneth Paltrow; Meghan Markle
Stephane Cardinale - Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images; Samir Hussein/WireImage

Gwyneth Paltrow And Meghan Markle Epically Shut Down Rumors That They're Feuding

The newest Hollywood feud is the one in which actor Gwyneth Paltrow and Meghan Markle are at each other's throats after Paltrow mocked Markle's new Netflix show.

The only problem—it apparently never happened.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of Donald Trump
Newsmax

Trump Slammed After Touting Plan To Financially Compensate Pardoned Jan. 6 Rioters

President Donald Trump is facing criticism after suggesting the creation of a "compensation fund" for individuals who were pardoned after participating in the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

In one of his first official actions upon returning to office, Trump granted sweeping clemency to nearly 1,600 people charged in connection with the riot. He issued pardons to most defendants and commuted the sentences of 14 members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers militia, many of whom had been convicted of seditious conspiracy.

Keep ReadingShow less