Schumer: I Wish House Had More John McCains

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who was part of the “Gang of Eight” that wrote the Senate’s immigration bill, lamented that there were not more John McCains in the House of Representatives. 

Sen. McCain (R-AZ) has been lauded as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s “favorite Republican,” and President Barack Obama, when asked by Jay Leno on Tuesday to speak about his “bromance” with McCain,” described it as a “romantic comedy.” But there are not as many Republicans who are so willing to compromise like McCain in the House, much to Schumer’s chagrin. 

“Well, the problem is, why aren’t there more John McCains?” Schumer told the Huffington Post on Monday. “It’s not a mystery why there’s a John McCain. The question is, why hasn’t even a stronger group in the House created some John McCains? And the redistricting system makes it much harder.”

While the Senate passed its immigration bill, with the help of Republican Senators like McCain, Marco Rubio (R-FL), and Lindsey Graham (R-SC), comprehensive immigration reform faces much more resistance in the House. That is why House Republican leaders are reportedly trying to pass a series of piecemeal bills in order to ultimately conference with the Senate. Conservatives fear such a conference will enable many of the provisions of the Senate’s bill, which the Congressional Budget Office found would lower the wages of working class Americans, would ultimately become law.