“Most members see the leadership as being supportive of Gang of Eight-style reform,” said a House Republican lawmaker who asked to remain anonymous. “We continually hear that once most primaries are over, the leadership will move forward with comprehensive reform.”

“That’s another one of those unguarded comments from Boehner — every once in a while you get the truth out of him,” said another House Republican, Rep. Steve King, who definitely did not wish to remain anonymous. “Every once in a while he slips up.”

More than a few House Republicans believe, or at least suspect, that the speaker is getting ready to pull a fast one on them. They’re particularly worried about a couple of scenarios.

In one, they fear Boehner and a few Republican allies might join with House Democrats to pass several separate bills that together add up to the bulk of the Senate Gang of Eight comprehensive reform bill. The content of the bills would be worked out with Senate Democrats; skeptical GOP members note that Rebecca Tallent, a former John McCain aide whom Boehner chose to be his top adviser on immigration, was not hired to sit around and do nothing. Once the set of House bills reaches the Senate, Majority Leader Harry Reid might bundle them into a new bill that would be comprehensive immigration reform in all but name.