Unable to Secure Votes, Boehner Begins to Crack on Border Bill

House GOP leadership is beginning to crack on its position that it would not include any language intended to prohibit the President from expanding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) executive amnesty in a border bill package.

Unable to find enough Republicans to pass the bill without the help of Democrats, who are lining up against the border bill, GOP leaders are considering allowing a separate vote on language to prevent a DACA expansion, a GOP leadership aide confirmed.

The catch is that the second vote would take place only if the underlying bill first passed. It’s still unclear whether the two measures would then be combined into a single bill or sent individually to the Senate, where they are expected to die.

The answer to that question could be crucial. The demand from leaders like Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Jeff Sessions (R-AL) has always been that their proposal be a part of the package as a whole, not as a separate piece. Cruz huddled with GOP members Wednesday evening to discuss strategy.

“They are insulting the intelligence of their rank and file members,” Daniel Horowitz, a conservative activist with Madison Project, told Breitbart News. “It is abundantly clear that they have no intention of using the power of the purse – even on new superfluous spending – to stop Obama’s promised administrative amnesty. His omission of immigration from the list of illegal acts for the House lawsuit speaks volumes. No show vote can hide the fact that they are winking and nodding at this president, essentially giving him the green light to do what he wants.”

“If the Republican leadership were serious about solving the border crisis, they would have the original Blackburn/Cruz language (not this watered down nonsense) in the House Border Supplemental,” Rosemary Jenks, NumbersUSA’s director of government relations, told Breitbart News. “Instead, they are trying to game conservatives and trick them into voting for a bill that will actually make the border crisis worse.”

This comes after GOP leaders like incoming House Majority Whip Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA), who is going through his first big test as incoming whip, expressed confidence this week the Granger bill as offered by Boehner’s working group would pass as-is.

The Boehner working group plan would spend $659 million between now and the end of the government’s fiscal year on Sept. 30. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reported that Obama’s proposal, which would spend $3.7 billion total, would only spend $25 million between now and the end of the fiscal year.