President Obama's executive order on immigration is sparking a heated debate in Congress that could lead to a government shutdown.
Republicans are furious that just weeks after trouncing Democrats at the polls the president decided to bypass them altogether on immigration. But what can they do? Congress controls the purse strings and that has some in the GOP threatening to flip the government's lights off until the president relents. Here's Tennessee Republican Jimmy Duncan calling for another shutdown.
“We don’t have any other choice – we can’t just roll over and play dead.”
Northern Virginia Congressman Jim Moran speaks for many Democrats when he decries using a government shutdown as a legislative tool.
“I think that’s – it’s nuts, but you know, they’re feeling their oats. They want to have an impact, and the only they can think of is to destroy something, to shut down the government.”
While GOP leaders say they don't want another shutdown over immigration policy, Virginia Republican Morgan Griffith says he's open to the idea though he's not advocating the approach.
“Well, I want to take a more measured approach. I’m not saying we shouldn’t. I’m not saying we should take shutting the government down off the table.”
Virginia’s newest Republican lawmaker, David Brat, says the president’s action shows a disregard for American voters.
“The American people just spoke very loudly in the elections last week. And so I think everybody in this chamber knows that and respects that the House especially is the body the founders put closest to the people for a reason. And so for the president to override the voice of the people, I think, violates his own ethics, right? That’s the important – I think it violates his own principles, what he ran on. It violates his own ethics. And so I don’t know why he’s doing that.”
But Virginia Democratic Congressman Bobby Scott says Republicans are making much ado about nothing.
“Well, the executive orders are just part of government, and there’s a long history of executive orders. Executive orders integrated the military. I mean, executive orders have done a – done a lot. And it’s the executive branch. They have the authority, responsibility to execute the laws. And some of them, you – can best be done by executive orders.”
Griffith says the GOP wouldn't feel so stung if the president worked with them on some Republican priorities.
“He should probably complete the border fence that Congress has previously passed into law. He should create the entry system to track foreign visa holders, which Congress has repeatedly mandated. You know, maybe he should cancel visas to any country that won’t take its own citizens back.”
Congressman Moran says GOP criticisms ring hollow.
“Well, the border – we spent billions on border security, and that doesn’t do anything towards the reform efforts that are necessary. You’ve got eleven million people who you realistically can’t deport but whose potential will never be fulfilled unless you can enable them to get legal status and to be able to pay taxes and come into the mainstream of society, out of the shadows.”
Moran says he fears the worst for the federal workforce and Virginia’s economy in the coming weeks and months because the GOP isn’t being responsible with the nation’s purse strings.
“And so if they want to get credit, the way you do it is to vote against and send out a press release saying, you know, I voted against it and I’m willing to shut down the government to avoid this excessive spending. You know, that’s their – that’s their mantra. And there’s enough of them now where, you know, I wouldn’t be all surprised if we don’t wind up shutting the government down for a while.”
The government runs out of funding on December 11th and Congress is out of town next week, so the clock is winding down quickly and as of now there's no agreement in sight.