The supposedly dead GOP border bill isn’t fully dead.
GOP leaders are deciding whether “to twist arms or to let it die,” a Hill aide told The Daily Caller.
According to congressional staffers, GOP leaders are trying to rewrite the complex, immigration-boosting text so that enough GOP conservatives agree to back the bill.
Earlier Thursday, it was defeated when numerous conservative legislators declined to back the leadership’s bill, which would have widened a controversial 2008 loophole and allowed many Mexican youths to apply for green cards.
The bill also would not have stopped the inflow of Central Americans adults, youths and children, say conservative lawmakers.
The House was expected to go on recess at 2: 00 p.m., but leadership aides told members to wait around for another effort to get the bill passed.
“IMPORTANT SCHEDULE NOTE: Members are advised that we have a Special GOP Conference Meeting at 3:00 p.m.,” read the e-mail from the office of Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the GOP’s new Majority Leader.