House Majority Whip Steve Scalise opposes House Speaker Paul Ryan’s amnesty plan, his office confirmed to Breitbart News on Friday. Scalise joins President Donald Trump in opposing the Ryan amnesty plan, which is scheduled at this time for a vote next Thursday in the House.
“Scalise did not, in fact, whip the compromise legislation today, and he does not intend to whip any immigration bill unless it has the support of President Trump,” Scalise spokeswoman Lauren Fine told Breitbart News. “He will not support immigration legislation that the president opposes.”
Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s office continues to decline to answer whether he will stand with President Trump or with lame duck Paul Ryan’s amnesty plan. But now, it is clear the House GOP leadership team is divided, as Ryan is the only member of the leadership team on record in favor of this amnesty plan the speaker put forward, all as President Trump came out in strong opposition to it on Friday morning.
Trump, on Fox and Friends, said that he “certainly wouldn’t sign” the lame duck Ryan’s amnesty bill if it ever made it to his desk.
Scalise’s opposition to the Ryan bill, his office confirmed, is predicated on the fact that President Trump opposes it. If that somehow changes, Scalise’s position could change. But, Scalise himself told Breitbart News he stands with the president.
“As we draft legislation to fix our broken immigration system, I’m working with President Trump on a bill that secures the border, fully funds the wall, closes loopholes on enforcement, and solves the DACA problem in a way that restores the rule of law,” Scalise told Breitbart News.
In other words, the Ryan bill does not do those things, President Trump opposes it, and Scalise stands with Trump against Ryan and the speaker’s amnesty plan.
Desperate administration officials who were involved with Ryan in crafting the amnesty plan have since claimed–anonymously–to The Hill newspaper that the president misspoke, but several White House officials in contact with the president on this matter have told Breitbart News that The Hill‘s report using anonymous sources is simply incorrect.
"Yes, we fully support both the Goodlatte bill and the Leadership bill. The President misunderstood the question this morning on Fox News," White House official says https://t.co/YsrCGkPfbJ
— Scott Wong (@scottwongDC) June 15, 2018
While those anonymous quotes in The Hill newspaper appear to suggest otherwise, at least two senior White House officials have told Breitbart News that whoever leaked that inaccurate information was simply mistaken.
“President Trump does not appreciate leakers, especially ones who push inaccurate information,” one White House official said. “He appreciates people who suggest inaccurately he ‘misspoke’ about or ‘misunderstood’ something even less. Swift justice should be coming their way soon.”
Several hours ago, republicans were telling us to expect trump to clarify/walk back his immigration statement.
He hasn’t.
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) June 15, 2018
“President Trump made his views on the Ryan amnesty bill very clear today,” another White House official said. “Unless he says something different publicly, it should be presumed that he knows exactly what he was talking about and what he was saying and why.”
Now that Scalise has joined President Trump in opposition to the Ryan amnesty plan, Ryan’s position as speaker is on even shakier ground. Rep. Steve King (R-IA), in an interview on Breitbart News Tonight on SiriusXM 125 the Patriot Channel this week, has said that Republicans are discussing now forcibly removing Ryan from the Speakership so as the party can move past his failures onto completing the president’s agenda.
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