Immigration
'Not quite ready yet': Democrats won’t take up Biden immigration plan this month
A dismal whip count came back this week showing House leaders don’t yet have the votes to pass the bill on the floor.
By SARAH FERRIS, HEATHER CAYGLE and LAURA BARRÓN-LÓPEZ
03/04/2021 04:30 AM EST
Top House Democrats have promised to put key immigration bills on the floor this month — but President Joe Biden’s sweeping overhaul won’t be one of them.
The issue of what to do with Biden’s comprehensive immigration plan has bedeviled Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her leadership team, particularly after a disappointing whip count came back this week showing they don’t yet have the votes to pass the bill on the floor, according to people familiar with the talks.
So now Democrats are moving ahead with an alternative plan: Move the Biden bill through committee while the full House votes on more targeted immigration legislation that already enjoys broad caucus support.
The chair of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), confirmed the path forward, calling the Biden proposal both “important and serious.â€
“We need to engage in some consultation with key members and stakeholders, but I see no reason why we wouldn’t mark it up when we reconvene in April,†Nadler said in a statement to POLITICO.
more
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/03/04/democrats-house-immigration-plan-473475
