But there are signs that immigration reform lacks the political momentum needed to drag it across the finish line. Last week, the Washington Examiner reported that the seven-member “gang” working on comprehensive immigration legislation in the House has made very little progress, and barely kept in touch during the August recess. Representative Raul Labrador (R., Idaho), a former member of the gang, told Univision that it might not be possible for the House to take up immigration reform until 2015.

However, Cantor has also raised the possibility of canceling a planned recess at the end of September in light of ongoing budget negotiations, which some critics of the Gang of Eight legislation fear could free up to time push an immigration-reform package through the House — a scenario Representative Tom Cole (R., Okla.) recently predicted.

Politically, on the other hand, the contentious budget negotiations could drain House leadership of the political capital needed to take up immigration reform, or, more specifically, to seek a compromise with the Senate, which would be the only way to ensure that reform gets signed into law.