House Votes To Suspend Syrian Immigration

Every House Republican and 47 House Democrats this afternoon voted to suspend immigration by Syrian and Iraqi refugees. Politico reports:

The vote was a significant loss for the White House — perhaps the biggest setback since most of the House Democratic Caucus voted against Obama on a trade bill in mid-June. Thursday’s vote, coupled with the Iranian nuclear agreement bill from September, also shows that Republicans plan to make national security a key issue in the 2016 elections.

The measure faces an uncertain future in the Senate. Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) pledged Thursday that the Syria bill won’t make it to Obama’s desk. Senators will likely attempt to tack the measure as a rider to the government spending bill that Congress has to address in December.

“We’ve explained here in some detail [that] the problem is not with refugees. I haven’t read the House language,” Reid said during a press conference on Thursday. “I don’t think we’re going to be dealing with it over here.”

Already conservative House Republicans are signaling they won’t vote to support December’s so-called omnibus bill unless it includes beefed-up provisions for vetting Syrian refugees while Democrats in the House are calling for a budget bill free of all contentious policy riders.

Among the Democrats supporting the bill was openly gay Rep. Jared Polis of Colorado.