Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) argued that the GOP should stop “cowering and hiding under our desks” on defunding the president’s executive action on immigration, arguing “it’s not like we’re saying ‘we’re not going to fund the government unless you wipe out a 1,600 page bill'” on Wednesday’s “Mark Levin Show.”
Sessions declared the GOP had “moral commitment” to defund the president’s executive action on immigration. He continued that cutting off the funding could “absolutely” be done without shutting down the government, adding “in the Defense budget it’s very frequent, Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) said this happens all the time, we say ‘well you can spend money on this weapon system or this program, but you can’t spend money on that one.’ That’s a part of the power of the purse.”
He also stated that the GOP was “working on” plans to exercise the power of the purse, and “trying to put something together.”
Sessions did urge his colleagues to send a bill from the House to bar funding the executive action and to be braver, stating “I don’t know why we’re cowering and hiding under our desks about this. We will fund the government. It’s not like we’re saying ‘we’re not going to fund the government unless you wipe out a 1,600 page bill,’ this is saying ‘we’re going to fund the entire government of the United States, we’re simply not going to fund your scheme to provide, unlawfully, IDs for people illegally in the country and work authorization.”
Sessions didn’t comment on the prospect of a CR/omnibus hybrid in the lame duck session, but predicted “I think next year the Republican Senate is going to move appropriations bills, not end up with a CRomnibus again. But we need to finish strong and we are not compelled to give the president the money [for his executive action on immigration].”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.