It’s been widely reported that newly-elected Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) won’t bring immigration reform legislation to the House floor while President Obama remains in office. What’s been mentioned less is what will happen when Obama is gone.
According to Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), Ryan promised the House’s ultra-conservative Freedom Caucus in a closed-door meeting that he won’t bring comprehensive immigration reform to the floor even after a new president is elected — that is, unless he can ensure that the majority of House Republicans will vote for it. And Jordan pointed out that it’s very unlikely that the majority of Republicans will ever support anything comprehensive.
“We got assurances on the immigration issue and this comprehensive Gang-of-Eight-type of plan that that’s not going to happen,” Jordan told radio host Laura Ingraham on Friday. “And frankly, in the next Congress, there’s no way something like that moves unless the majority of our conference supports it. And the majority of our conference, as you rightly point out, doesn’t support that.”
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Ryan’s promise to the Freedom Caucus came in the form of a letter, first obtained by the conservative National Review. That letter also stated that he would not allow “any immigration bill to reach the floor for a vote unless a ‘majority’ of GOP members support it.”
Ryan’s office did not return ThinkProgress’ request for comment.