Mark Meadows is warning Paul Ryan that if he stays on a liberal path when it comes to the immigration bill, he risks losing his job as Speaker:
CNN – House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows issued a blunt warning to House Speaker Paul Ryan on Wednesday, suggesting if he fails to address conservatives’ concerns on immigration he’ll risk his top leadership post.
“I can say it is the defining moment for this speaker. If he gets it wrong it will have consequences for him, but it will also have consequences for the rest of the Republican Party,” Meadows said at an event with fellow House conservatives on Capitol Hill on Wednesday.
The North Carolina Republican stressed, “this president was elected largely on an immigration issue that defined him differently than the other candidates and so it is the defining moment, more so than the budget or anything else that we’ve passed.”
Jim Jordan also hammers Ryan on immigration as well as budgets:
Ohio GOP Rep. Jim Jordan also piled on Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican. He criticized Ryan for backing the budget deal that avoided a government shutdown last week, tweaking the speaker, who rose to national prominence for his focus on cutting deficits.
“Just a few years ago Speaker Ryan was viewed as the — the — individual in our party, in our country, who was focused on fiscal responsibility, and then you saw what happened last week.”
Jordan also pointed out that Ryan’s positions on immigration do not sync up with many House conservatives. “So all I’m saying is we need legislation in every policy area that is consistent with that we told them we were going to do and what they elected us to do. That did not happen last week, but I certainly hope it happens on immigration,” Jordan said.
I like the fact that conservatives like Meadows and Jordan are standing up to Paul Ryan. I’m just not sure it will work because I’m not sure that Ryan cares if he keeps his job as Speaker or not. There’ve already been rumors that he wants to retire and spend more time with his family. If that’s true these threats won’t mean much to him.
Unfortunately the arc of the Republican Party is moving away from conservatism and toward liberalism, evidenced by the fact that they refuse to fully repeal Obamacare (or even partly). Unless we elect more conservative members so that the Freedom Caucus can grow its membership and increase the effect it is having on the party at large, then it really just feels like we’re spinning our wheels.
House conservatives are demanding a vote on an immigration proposal from House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Virginia, and argued that the Republican-controlled House should ignore any deal that could emerge from the current Senate debate.
House GOP Whip Steve Scalise and his team are in the process of determining whether that plan has enough support to pass, according to multiple Republican sources. But a bloc of moderate Republicans have expressed strong concerns with it, and Democrats have indicated it’s a non-starter so it’s unclear that the plan as drafted could clear the chamber.
A “bloc of moderate Republicans have expressed strong concerns with it”…
Of course.