GOP Threatens Government Shutdown Over Refugee

Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.)

While utterly ignoring the hate mongering elements of their own base - including those advocating for the execution of some 10-30 million LGBT Americans - the political whores in the Republican Party are now making rumblings about shutting down the federal government if the Obama administration does not limit access to Syrian refugees to those who are Christian.  Of course, how they would winnow out those who are not Christian is not specified nor is any cognizance given to the reality that any terrorist worth his or her salt who wanted to infiltrate America along with the legitimate refugees could easily provide falsified documentation as to their alleged - and false  - Christian faith.  Among those leading this charge is Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) who seems more delusional bu the day.  Politico looks at this latest wave of GOP batshitery.  Here are highlights:

A cascade of Republicans on Monday implored the Obama administration to scrap plans to resettle 10,000 Syrian refugees in the United States next year, saying they pose an unacceptable security risk in the wake of last week’s terrorist attacks in Paris.

And, in a dramatic twist, the sudden standoff is raising the possibility of a government shutdown next month.

Throughout the day a host of Republican governors around the country, wary that refugees could end up in their home states, blasted President Barack Obama’s plans. But those governors lack real sway over the process, and some are asking Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) to insert a provision in the Dec. 11 spending bill that would bar more Syrian settlers.

In an interview, John Cornyn of Texas, the second-ranking Senate Republican, said “it’s a good time to hit the pause button [on the Syrian resettlement program] and to reevaluate where we are and what the risks are.”

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), one of the leading immigration hard-liners in the Capitol, sent a letter to colleagues calling for provisions in the omnibus spending bill that would give Congress more oversight over Syrian refugees.

And House Homeland Security Chairman Mike McCaul of Texas wrote a letter to Obama asking him to “temporarily suspend the admission of all additional Syrian refugees into the United States pending a full review of the Syrian refugee resettlement program.” In an appearance on CNN, McCaul said Congress should declare war on the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, also known as ISIS.

Ryan and McConnell will have to decide quickly on a course of action as they confront the first potential legislative crisis since Ryan became speaker. The government funding process offers powerful leverage over the Obama administration but would threaten a shutdown if Democrats balk at their demands.

Time is short. Just 25 days remain until government spending authority runs out, and Congress will recess next week for Thanksgiving.

Republicans’ chief concerns stem from reports that at least one of the suspects in Friday’s attacks may have crossed through Greece along with refugees. A Syrian passport discovered near the body of one of the attackers in Paris showed that the holder of the passport passed through Leros, Greece, in early October, according to Reuters. The Wall Street Journal reported Monday afternoon that the Syrian passport was fake, according to French officials.