On Thursday, Rep. Steve King (R-IA) called on House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) to delay the House GOP leadership elections so House Republicans can elect leaders who better represent the will of the conservative voters that ousted House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) in Tuesday’s primary for embracing amnesty legislation.
King noted that Reps. Pete Sessions (R-TX), the House Rules Committee Chair, and Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), the current Majority Whip – both of whom are publicly vying to replace Cantor – support amnesty efforts in the House.
“Unfortunately, while both current candidates benefit from the hasty timeframe prescribed by leadership, neither opposes amnesty legislation being brought to the floor of the House,” King said. “The primary election in Virginia 7 that led to this leadership vacuum turned on the electorate’s opposition to amnesty. Have we learned nothing?”
King, one of the staunchest anti-amnesty advocates who earlier told Breitbart News that he would always stay vigilant against amnesty legislation, said that Republicans should pause to select the best possible candidate to replace Cantor before saying, “This snap election has the effect of stacking the deck.” House Republican leaders reportedly pushed up the timetable to make it more difficult for conservatives to organize and ascend to leadership posts.
“At a time when Republicans in Congress are fighting the Obama administration to oppose snap elections for unions on American employers, Republican leadership is trying to do the same in the United States House of Representatives,” King said. “Let’s take more time to get our heads clear and elect a staunch conservative, anti-amnesty candidate to step up and lead the majority.”
Dave Brat, who defeated Cantor, made amnesty the central focus of his campaign and would later say it represented the biggest divide between the Wall Street elite and Main Street.