He might as well just hand that gavel over to Cruz.
That one critical thing House Republicans wanted to do before taking off for August recess?
#BREAKING House GOP border bill appears to be dead. House to leave without passing border bill.
— @ChadPergram
In what is the first big defeat for the
new House Republican leadership team, the border bill is dead. They're not going to vote today, and still plan to end business for the next five weeks today. The real House Speaker, John Boehner, was once again
pitted against the tea party Speaker, Sen. Ted Cruz, and just like with last year's government shutdown, Cruz won. Boehner has been valiantly trying to pull together Republican votes for his
sham of a border bill, because he couldn't count on support from any Democrats. He failed.
This might be the richest part of the whole thing: Boehner's statement following the collapse of the vote.
This situation shows the intense concern within our conference – and among the American people–about the need to ensure the security of our borders and the president’s refusal to faithfully execute our laws. There are numerous steps the president can and should be taking right now, without the need for congressional action, to secure our borders and ensure these children are returned swiftly and safely to their countries. For the past month, the House has been engaged in intensive efforts to pass legislation that would compel the president to do his job and ensure it can be done as quickly and compassionately as possible.
That from the guy who just decided to sue President Obama for his executive actions. Unbelievable. Except it's not. It's exactly what you would expect from Boehner and team. If the consequences for the thousands of refugee children in crisis weren't so dire, it would almost be funny.
11:31 AM PT: Can they be more fucked up?
NOT SO FAST - GOP now meeting at 3pm on immigration - so more votes are possible today in the House
— @jamiedupree
That's after members were told there would be just one more vote, which was wrapped up before this announcement. People were already on their way out of the Capitol and ready to leave town. Just incredible incompetence on display here.