House GOP leaders are salivating at the prospect of bringing a bill calling for the abolishment of ICE to a floor vote, forcing Democrats on the record over the divisive issue in an attempt to rend the party asunder before the midterms.
According to a Thursday Politico report, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) told reporters that the vote on Rep. Mark Pocan’s (D-WI) bill to eliminate the agency would happen before the August recess.
Republicans are also considering forcing a vote on “Medicare for All,” another issue where progressives and moderate Democrats are out of step.
Per Politico, Pocan and his co-sponsors—Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) and Adriano Espaillat (D-NY)—say they will opt out of the majority party’s “political stunt” and plan to lead the Democrats in a no vote. However, they are still eager to debate the issue on the House floor.
The bill has caused contention within the Democratic party as well, as members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus are livid that they weren’t consulted about the bill in advance, that it hands the GOP a wedge issue when Democrats need a united front and that it distracts from the ongoing crisis of family separations at the border.
