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Speaker Ryan Confirms DAPA Lawsuit Is Just About Politics

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Lynn Tramonte:  “GOP-led lawsuit isn’t about law, it’s about politics: Donald Trump’s politics”

For months we’ve seen legal analysts describe the case challenging President Obama’s immigration executive actions as a political question that should not be in the courts. Long-time New York TimesSupreme Court reporter Linda Greenhouse even noted, “This is a case that should have been tossed out of Federal District Court in the first instance. Instead, its stakes are now heightened enormously. If the justices approach their task as judges and not as politicians, the administration will easily prevail.”

Now we’re seeing the ultimate example proving Texas v. U.S. is a political case masquerading as a lawsuit. Confirmation comes from the Speaker of the House: Paul Ryan. Ryan is preparing to allow the House to vote on filing an amicus brief, a move he calls “a very extraordinary step.” It is indeed. Instead of simply filing an amicus brief with signatories from lawmakers interested in the case, the standard practice, Ryan is holding a roll call vote to dramatize the issue and attempt to put the full weight of the U.S. House of Representatives behind him—no matter how many Members vote no.

By holding a press-seeking roll call vote, the Speaker is sending a clear message to Chief Justice Roberts: This case is pure politics.

Lynn Tramonte, Deputy Director of America’s Voice noted,  “With this vote, it is clear that Paul Ryan is not in control of the House. Donald Trump is. By bringing the question to a vote, Speaker Ryan is attempting to co-opt the People’s House to send his party’s anti-immigrant message.  This is press-seeking politics at its worst, and the Supreme Court Justices have to see through it. By taking this ‘very extraordinary’ step, in Ryan’s own words, he’s confirming what we’ve been saying along.  The GOP-led lawsuit isn’t about the law, it’s about politics. Donald Trump’s politics.”