House Speaker John Boehner Pushes Government Funding Bill, Says There Are 'Limited Options' to Fighting Executive Action on Immigration

On Tuesday, House Speaker John Boehner pushed a spending bill that would fund most of the federal government through September of 2015. The move comes as some of the Ohio representative's fellow Republicans are preparing for a showdown with President Barack Obama that could lead to another government shutdown.

Many in the GOP strongly oppose the executive action on immigration Obama announced last month, but Boehner's proposal would include a short-term extension of funding for the Department of Homeland Security, which is charged with implementing the president's order, Republicans told Reuters.

"No one spoke in favor of a shutdown," Congressman Peter King of New York told reporters about a meeting in which the plan was discussed.

To keep the federal government running, Congress must pass a spending bill by Dec. 11. That means such legislation will be tackled in the legislature's lame duck session, before the GOP extends its hold in the House and gains control of the Senate due to the results of last month's midterm elections.

"I think they understand that it's going to be difficult to take meaningful action as long as we've got Democratic control of the Senate," Boehner said.

Top Republicans have already agreed on the proposal, however, selling it to rank-and-file congressmen is "the hard part," Politico reports.

"(That marks) the first big test of whether (GOP leaders) can accomplish what they have promised since a sweeping election victory this fall -- that they can move beyond the days of ruling by crisis and prove they can govern responsibly," Politico said.

Boehner and his colleagues in the House leadership, Kevin McCarthy, of California, and Steve Scalise, of Louisiana, are urging their fellow Republicans to channel their anger at Obama's immigration action into a bill introduced by the colleague Ted Yoho, of Florida. The measure, though mostly symbolic, states that the president does not have the authority to exempt some people from immigration laws -- "a direct affront to Obama's moves," according to Politico.

"Frankly, we have limited options, limited ability to deal with it directly," Boehner said of what the GOP can do to effectively oppose the president's immigration action.