Politico (10/18, Epstein) reports that the President will use his “newly won political capital” to “hammer House Republicans on immigration.” Like his strategy in the budget battle, the President’s goal “is to boost public pressure on House Republican leadership to call a vote on a Senate-passed measure.” Politico notes that while the White House has no plans as of yet for the President “to participate in any new immigration reform events or rallies,” he “emerged on Thursday to tout a ‘broad coalition across America’ that supports immigration reform.” Politico also notes that White House Press Secretary Jay Carney on Thursday echoed White House arguments during the budget impasse, claiming “that there are enough votes in the House to pass the Senate’s bill now, if only it could come to a vote.”
The Huffington Post (10/18, Foley) also reports that the President plans “to restart his push for comprehensive immigration reform,” but notes that “House Republicans are showing little interest in doing so” after the “bruising fight on government spending that only increased bad blood between the two parties.”
The Washington Post (10/18, Nakamura) also reports that the President and Democrats “are using momentum from reopening government” to renew their push for House Republicans to move an immigration reform bill by the end of the year. The Post notes that while Democrats are “convinced that they have the GOP on the defensive,” it is “not clear that GOP lawmakers, who took the brunt of public blame for the 16-day shutdown, will be forced to the negotiating table.”
Obama: Increased Immigration Will Boost Economy. The Daily Caller (10/18, Munro) reports that the President saidThursday that an increase in immigration “would increase the nation’s economy by five percent after 20 years – but he declined to mention that the extra money would go to the 16 million new immigrants, and to employers and the government, but not to American workers or current immigrants.”
Republican Say Democrats Will Have To Negotiate On Immigration Overhaul. Meanwhile, USA Today (10/18, Gomez) reports that Republicans are angry that the White House and Senate Majority Leader Reid refused “to negotiate over the terms to end the shutdown and lift the nation’s debt ceiling,” and some say that if they follow “the same strategy and refuse to compromise on immigration then the issue will be dead this year.”
Similarly, the Los Angeles Times (10/18, Bennett) reports that the stance taken by the White House and Democrats in the budget fight “has further soured key House Republicans on passing immigration legislation.”
Labrador: House Republicans Should Not Go To Conference On Immigration. The Daily Caller (10/18, May) reports that Rep. Raul Labrador (R-ID) said Thursday that House Republicans would be “foolish” to “pass immigration reform and bring it to a conference committee with the Senate-passed immigration bill.” Arguing that “the shutdown negotiations foreshadowed what immigration reform negotiations will look like,” Labrador said that “Harry Reid and President Obama will not negotiate in good faith.”
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