Senators Cancel Immigration Strategy Meeting Aimed at Targeting House GOP

Senators Cancel Immigration Strategy Meeting Aimed at Targeting House GOP

on Tue, 23 Jul 2013

On Monday, senators who drafted the chamber's comprehensive immigration reform bill canceled a scheduled follow-up meeting with big business and technology lobbyists. At that meeting, Senators--like John McCain (R-AZ) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY)--who wrote the immigration bill that passed nearly a month ago intended to plot a strategy to target House Members on the fence about the bill.

They canceled the meeting after participants felt it would do more harm than good, especially if more stories were written about the group's plans. 

Breitbart News reported last week that the senators met with representatives for technology groups and big business to plan how to target up to 100 House Members during the August recess. McCain conceded they were losing the messaging debate on immigration. 

The group also had plans to reportedly pressure House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) to abandon the so-called Hastert Rule and bring a comprehensive immigration bill to the floor, even if it did not have the support of a majority of Republicans. 

After reports of the meeting came out, lobbyists for technology groups and big businesses that back the immigration reform bill were reportedly "outraged" and said they understood "how unpopular" the Senate's bill was in the House. According to Reuters, those who were scheduled to participate in the meeting thought it would ultimately "backfire." 

Democratic aides reportedly said the meeting "was canceled because of scheduling problems and that the senators would continue to work closely with immigration reform groups."