Republican discord is clearly derailing any progress on finding a solution for Dreamers. Which is pretty much the story of everything that happens with policy in the House, largely because House Speaker Paul Ryan is pretty much incompetent. Here's how Politico reports that immigration story.
In late February, Speaker Paul Ryan and his leadership team went to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte with a request.
With a White House deadline fast approaching to address the fate of Dreamers facing possible deportation, the leaders wanted to put Goodlatte’s conservative immigration plan on the House floor, but needed him to make changes to win more votes. Goodlatte, an immigration hard-liner, assured Ryan he would be flexible.
But weeks later, Goodlatte’s legislation is still languishing. […]
Goodlatte has long posed an imposing hurdle even for House Republican leaders who should, in theory, be able to pull rank on him. They’ve spent more than five years trying to cajole the 65-year-old Virginia Republican to take up consequential legislation. Instead, Goodlatte has moved slowly or not at all, his GOP colleagues say, often stalling until lawmakers move on.
To be fair, which is more than Ryan deserves, Goodlatte is a problem he inherited from former Speaker John Boehner. We know that because this very long story details just how long Goodlatte has been a thorn in the side of leadership, refusing to work with fellow Republicans and acting as a major obstacle to all sorts of policy-making. Supposedly back in 2015, it was an issue when House leadership was figuring out committee assignments. "'Boehner just kind of took him on for everything he promised to get done,' and he didn't, said one Republican who witnessed the exchange. Goodlatte, the person added, will 'give you a white paper on [an issue], but he never plans to produce anything.'"
Goodlatte's response to Politico? "Sometimes you can do [what leadership wants] and sometimes you can't," he said. "You know, the committee has its own jurisdiction, its own structure. And we have to work the will of the committee." In other words, what Paul Ryan wants doesn't matter. It's his committee.
In a nutshell, that's Paul Ryan's leadership. He's proven even less capable than Boehner of exerting any kind of control over his conference. He's expert at carrying Trump's water and at elevating the Freedom Caucus maniacs' influence. But he's completely out of his depth when it comes to serving the nation.