via Verne Strickland aol dot com Nov. 7, 2014
Obama and Congressional Leaders Discuss How to Move on Immigration
WASHINGTON — Speaker John A. Boehner warned President Obama
in person Friday that taking unilateral action to ease deportation of
undocumented immigrants would rupture relations with the new Republican
majority and would kill efforts to overhaul immigration policy as
congressional leaders gathered at the White House for the first time
since Tuesday’s elections.
At
a session that also touched on efforts to fight Islamic terrorists and
halt the spread of Ebola, Mr. Boehner tried to assure Mr. Obama and
Democratic leaders that Republicans intended to pursue immigration law changes
next year. But, despite prompting by Vice President Joseph R. Biden
Jr., Mr. Boehner would say only that it would take months to make
progress, according to accounts of the meeting provided by multiple
people familiar with what took place.
The
mostly cordial session over a lunch of herb-crusted sea bass and
pumpkin tarts was held in advance of a lame-duck session of Congress
scheduled to begin next Wednesday, and the lawmakers each left with a
six-pack of White House beer.
But, Mr. Obama’s vow to take action on immigration is certain to hang
over the return of lawmakers after an election that saw Republicans grab
control of the Senate and increase their House majority as of January.
While
it was not discussed at the White House session, Senate Democrats have
begun weighing whether to allow Republicans a vote on their proposal to
block any executive action by the president — a plan that Democrats
believe they can defeat on the floor.
During
the meeting with 13 House and Senate leaders, officials said, the
president pushed back against Mr. Boehner, saying Mr. Obama had
legitimate authority to act on his own as other presidents have. He was
backed in that argument by Representative Nancy Pelosi of California,
the House Democratic leader.
“The
president has the authority to act by executive order on immigration,”
Ms. Pelosi told reporters after the session. “It’s in the law, but it’s
also in the precedent of other presidents, whether it’s President
Eisenhower, Kennedy, both Bushes, President Reagan — it just goes on and
on.”
The
meeting also included a briefing by Pentagon officials on efforts to
combat the Islamic State militant group. Mr. Obama told congressional
leaders that he intended to work with them on a new authorization to use
force against the group, most likely in the new Congress. Aides to Mr.
Boehner said the speaker welcomed that decision and reminded the
president that, historically, the White House has drafted the
resolution, sent it to Capitol Hill and help push its passage. Mr.
Boehner said Republicans would help with its approval.
The
White House, on a day when administration officials were trumpeting the
ninth straight month of more than 200,000 additional jobs, said the
president urged congressional leaders “to pass a budget for the rest of
the fiscal year in the same bipartisan, drama-free way they did earlier
this year because there is no reason to create uncertainty for
businesses that are putting Americans back to work.”
The
offices of Senator Harry Reid, the Nevada Democrat and current majority
leader, and Mr. Boehner have been conferring over a lame-duck agenda,
with both parties trying to game out what would be to their advantage to
dispose of before Republicans take over the Senate and what they can
afford to push into 2015.
Leaders
of both parties would like to fund the government through Sept. 30 and
eliminate any talk of a shutdown for now. Members of the Appropriations
Committees favor doing it through a package of new spending bills rather
than just funding agencies at current levels. Passing the new bills in a
so-called omnibus allows lawmakers to reset agency priorities, but
House Republicans have balked in the past at passing such big packages
and the leadership may have to settle for a simple extension.
They
also have expressed growing interest in trying to pass legislation
overhauling the National Security Agency’s once-secret program that is
systematically collecting records about Americans’ phone calls. The
legal basis for the current call records program, Section 215 of the Patriot Act, will expire in June 2015 without new action.
But
because surveillance issues can scramble the usual partisan lines —
splitting libertarian conservatives from national security hawks, for
instance — it may be in the Republicans’ interest to get the bill out of
the way before they assume control of the Senate, avoiding internal
discord.
The House of Representatives in May passed a version of the bill, called the U.S.A. Freedom Act,
but the Senate has not yet taken up its version, sponsored by Senator
Patrick J. Leahy, the Vermont Democrat who leads the Senate Judiciary
Committee. In September, James R. Clapper Jr., the director of national
intelligence, and Eric H. Holder Jr., the attorney general, endorsed Mr.
Leahy’s bill. It also has support from Silicon Valley as well as from
the conservative Republican Senators Mike Lee of Utah and Ted Cruz of
Texas.
The central element of Mr. Leahy’s bill
would get the N.S.A. out of the business of collecting bulk domestic
phone records, which it uses to analyze links between people in hope of
identifying previously unknown associates of terrorism suspects.
Instead, the records would stay in the hands of phone companies, and a
new kind of judicial order would permit the government to swiftly obtain
calling records of a suspect, along with those of callers up to two
links away, even if different companies hold them.
Senate
officials are also in negotiations over possible approval of select
judicial, executive branch and ambassadorial nominations.
Congressional
leaders also want to approve a renewal of the terrorism-risk insurance
program and extend a series of business and energy tax breaks, making
some of them permanent.
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