Even though Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker John Boehner have chosen to skip CPAC, they will hear very loudly the complaints of activists who believe that both men have shown their yellow belly to the purple and blue forces in Congress.
Boehner is on point. If he sends the signal, the House will vote on a Senate measure to fund the DHS fully, along with a separate symbolic vote to show disapproval with President Obama’s immigration executive action, which the GOP calls “amnesty.” As of this writing, the speaker has not indicated that he will give in to the pressure, instead preferring to gut it out for a few days, at least, letting House conservatives relish the win of a short-duration shut-down. Tactically, Boehner would allow pent-up frustration to ventilate, and then, when conservatives quieted down, reverse course and essentially hand Obama a delayed victory — for now.
Obama’s executive action, which would affect nearly five million undocumented immigrants, is held up in court. If DHS gets its funding, Obama wouldn’t be able to act until the courts decide what to do.
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