Pelosi May Attempt to Force House Vote on Gang of Eight Senate Immigration Bill

At Hot Air, Pelosi says she may attempt a discharge petition, which is a maneuver where you gather a majority of House signatures (218 of them) in order to force a vote on a matter the Speaker refuses a vote on.

Problems: She'd need 18 Republican defectors who, given the fact that the bill would immediately thereafter be passed into law by a subsequent majority vote (and then the President's signature), would be committing themselves, no wiggle room allowed, to the Gang of Eight's amnesty bill.

It is unclear if she could get five such signatures, let alone 18.

On the other hand: the chair of the House Judiciary Committee says he's "open minded" about a pathway to citizenship.

In a C-SPAN interview earlier this month, Goodlatte said he and other House Republicans were “open-minded” to a path to legalization. After obtaining that status, those immigrants could then apply for green cards, and ultimately citizenship, through methods already available to other immigrants.

posted by Ace at 02:26 PM

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