House GOP could respond on immigration next week

At this point, there’s no indication that the GOP is unified in a way to respond. Lawmakers have floated everything from censuring Obama to canceling the State of the Union to shutting down the government — and the leadership doesn’t seem particularly interested in any of those options.

The GOP leadership have a preferred option for government funding. They are moving toward passing two bills: one that would fund the government through September 2015, and another that would extend immigration-related funding for a shorter period of just a few months.

This will all begin when Congress returns Monday for what’s expected to be a tumultuous end to the 113th Congress. Government funding runs out Dec. 11, giving Congress just 10 days to avoid a shutdown. The conservative right is steaming mad over Obama’s decision to unilaterally change immigration enforcement laws, and the GOP leadership has begun surveying the membership to see how it should respond. Boehner (R-Ohio), House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Cailf.) and incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) have all said they want to avoid a government shutdown.