Republicans Say Ruling Aids Bid in Congress to Block Obama on Immigration

[spanone]

WASHINGTON — Congressional Republicans on Tuesday seized on a federal judge’s ruling against President Obama’s executive actions on immigration, saying the judge’s preliminary conclusions bolstered their fight to block the president’s moves by holding up funding for the Department of Homeland Security.

Judge Andrew S. Hanen of Federal District Court in Brownsville, Texas, ordered a halt to Mr. Obama’s executive actions late Monday, ruling that a coalition of 26 states had the legal grounds to challenge programs that would provide work permits to as many as five million people and protect them from deportation.

Republican lawmakers could argue that the federal courts will end up doing what the party is trying to do with its showdown over Homeland Security funding, potentially freeing Congress to fund the department without restrictions. But in a series of coordinated statements on Tuesday, Republican leaders in Congress and officials at conservative organizations showed no sign of relenting.

They said they would continue to hold up the money unless the Homeland Security funding bill included language that would stop the immigration programs. Republicans called on Senate Democrats to end a filibuster of that legislation.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/18/us/politics/republicans-say-ruling-aids-bid-in-congress-to-block-obama-on-immigration.html

[Panich52]

1. That was the plan when they took the suit to that particular judge.

He's a well-known anti-Obama jurist. One could say the fix was in.
..