Louie Gohmert floats a way out: 60-day spending bill with a House vote on immigration

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) and other conservative Republicans have proposed a way around the spending bill problem that had frozen Congress all of Thursday afternoon.

Gohmert said on Sean Hannity's radio show that conservatives would support a 60-day continuing spending resolution that would keep the government open past today, when funding runs out. He said he also wants language on that CR that prevents President Barack Obama from implementing his executive action on immigration.

"If you want conservative members, we will be on board," he said. "Just give us a short term continuing resolution into early next year so that Republicans in the House and Senate will decide."

"And, let us have an amendment we can vote for in the House that negates the president's amnesty action," he added. "We're even willing to structure a rule of procedure that we pass that would allow the Senate to vote to strip it out and then allow it to go onto the president."

Gohmert said that deal would be acceptable, even though it would let the Senate take out the immigration language, because it would at least force the Senate to hold a vote on something.

"We have allowed the Senate not to take tough votes," he said. "If they're going to strip it out, they're going to have to take the hard vote."

The House recessed shortly after 2 p.m., and has been frozen as GOP leaders scramble for votes for a $1 trillion spending bill that many Republicans and Democrats oppose. But Gohmert complained that GOP leaders so far aren't reaching out to conservatives, and instead seemed to be trying to win votes from Democrats who were on the fence about other issues.