http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/government-shutdown-warsBySAHIL KAPURPublishedNOVEMBER 18, 2014, 6:00 AM EST 4352 Views
The government shutdown battles are back — again.
The specter of President Barack Obama using his executive authority to temporarily shield as many as 5 million Americans from the threat of deportation has ignited a strong backlash from the GOP's tea party wing. Seeing no better option to stop Obama, these conservatives, led by Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) and 59 House Republicans, are pushing for a head-on confrontation that would end in a government shutdown unless he backs down.
"There is a growing momentum to the idea," Sessions told TPM and one other reporter in the Capitol on Monday. "I think it's important that Congress use what power it has to resist this presidential overreach."
One top GOP aide working in support of the Sessions strategy said efforts by some Republicans to pass a long-term government funding bill that doesn't block Obama's immigration action was "cratering, fast and furiously." A senior Democratic aide said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) had been having discussions about a long-term funding bill but recently the Speaker's office appeared to be backing away.
Boehner told reporters on Thursday that "all options are on the table" to stop Obama from acting unilaterally on immigration, including the threat of a government shutdown. A half-dozen GOP senators TPM spoke to on Monday would not rule out the idea of using federal funding as leverage to stop Obama.
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