In a surprising reversal, House GOP leaders have scrapped a floor vote on a Democratic measure calling for the abolishment of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Instead, the House will vote Wednesday on a resolution — authored by Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.) — to support ICE, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) told reporters on Monday.
“What I found so interesting is the Democrats introduced a bill to abolish ICE ... we give them an opportunity, and they say they don’t want to vote for it,” said McCarthy, who controls which bills come to the House floor.
The California Republican said Thursday he intended to bring the abolish ICE bill to the floor in an attempt to force vulnerable Democrats to take a difficult vote. GOP leaders thought Democrats in swing districts would be reluctant to criticize the federal agency responsible for fighting human and drug trafficking and border enforcement.
But Democrats responded by vowing to vote “no” and dismissed it as an election year show vote.
It’s a “political stunt,” Democratic Reps. Mark Pocan (Wis.), Pramila Jayapal(Wash.) and Adriano Espaillat (N.Y.) — the architects of the progressive-backed bill — said in a joint statement.
Instead, the House will vote Wednesday on a resolution — authored by Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.) — to support ICE, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) told reporters on Monday.
“What I found so interesting is the Democrats introduced a bill to abolish ICE ... we give them an opportunity, and they say they don’t want to vote for it,” said McCarthy, who controls which bills come to the House floor.
The California Republican said Thursday he intended to bring the abolish ICE bill to the floor in an attempt to force vulnerable Democrats to take a difficult vote. GOP leaders thought Democrats in swing districts would be reluctant to criticize the federal agency responsible for fighting human and drug trafficking and border enforcement.
But Democrats responded by vowing to vote “no” and dismissed it as an election year show vote.
It’s a “political stunt,” Democratic Reps. Mark Pocan (Wis.), Pramila Jayapal(Wash.) and Adriano Espaillat (N.Y.) — the architects of the progressive-backed bill — said in a joint statement.
