Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is expected to file for cloture Monday on a Syria authorization resolution. Roll Call notes that there could be narrow approval in the Senate, but the bill could come up short in the Republican-controlled House.
Rep. Peter King (R-NY) said he thinks the Syria vote will fail: “I intend to vote for it, but I think it’s going down.”
Politico: “Of all the unexpected turns in the Syria debate, one stands out most: The GOP, the party of a muscular national defense, has gone the way of the dove.” More: “That the shift has many possible causes — the enormous toll of American lives and taxpayer dollars exacted by two faraway wars since 2001, the antagonism toward a Democratic president, the very different circumstances in Syria than Iraq — makes it no less remarkable. From the Vietnam War through the Cold War and into Afghanistan and Iraq, an aggressive foreign policy has been as much a part of the Republican Party’s identity as low taxes and opposition to abortion.”
“Congress is likely to postpone consideration of an immigration overhaul until the end of the year, if not longer, even as advocates are preparing for an all-out, urgent push this fall to win their longstanding goal of a path to citizenship for millions of immigrants here illegally,” the New York Times says. “In Washington, the sudden debate over military action in Syria and a looming face-off with President Obama over the budget and the nation’s borrowing limit have shot to the top of the legislative agenda, while Republican angst about losing Hispanic voters in the 2012 presidential campaign has faded.”
The AP looks at Republicans in the House who are supportive of immigration reform and how difficult it has been for some of them. “In the five weeks since he declared his support for a comprehensive immigration overhaul, U.S. Rep. Daniel Webster has gotten an earful. One constituent told the second-term Republican that immigrants carry disease. Another said immigrants would steal jobs away from Americans… As Congress returns to work this week after its summer break, Webster faces perhaps an even tougher crowd: fellow Republicans. Webster is among about two dozen GOP lawmakers who support an eventual path to citizenship for millions of people who are living in the U.S. illegally. These Republicans are facing the daunting challenge of trying to persuade colleagues to follow them. Most Republicans oppose this approach on citizenship, and there is little political incentive for them to change their minds. Only 24 of 233 Republicans represent districts where more than one-quarter of their constituents are Hispanic.”
Roll Call has its list of the 50 richest members of Congress and Darrell Issa tops it with a net worth of more than $355 million. He vaulted to No. 1 after making $135 million last year. Roll Call: “Issa’s nine-figure year seems to be the result of a bull market and quirky accounting rules. The California Republican is heavily invested in high-yield bonds, and even though 2012 was a good year for such investments, it is the reporting requirement rules that make Issa’s returns seem so staggering.”
Eric Cantor wants budget “reforms” for a debt-ceiling increase.