House will take vote on two GOP bills

WASHINGTON >> The House will vote next week on two Republican-written immigration bills, a top GOP aide said late Tuesday, as leaders sought to move past an election-year civil war they worry will wound the party’s prospects in November.

AshLee Strong, spokeswoman for Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., announced the decision after a bargaining session among leaders and top conservative and GOP lawmakers ended without agreement on a single package all sides could support.

For weeks, the party’s two wings have hunted ways to provide a route to citizenship for “Dreamer” immigrants brought illegally to the U.S. as children and also bolster border security, but have failed to find middle ground.

The House ended Tuesday’s session as moderates fell short of their stated goal of having 218 signatures — a majority of the chamber — on a petition that would force votes on other immigration bills that GOP leaders oppose. They had said they would do that by Tuesday in order to trigger those votes later this month.

Instead, the centrists accumulated the names of all 193 Democrats but just 23 Republicans — two short of the number required.

GOP leaders have strongly opposed the rarely used petition tactic, asserting those votes would probably produce a liberal-leaning bill backed by Democrats and just a smattering of Republicans.

They’ve actively lobbied other moderates to not sign the petition, and in talks bargainers have sought legislation both sides could back or alternatively a way for each faction to get a vote on legislation they could support.