The effort to find GOP unity seemed uphill on an issue that has divided the party for years. Members of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus helped caused the agriculture measure’s defeat after refusing a leadership offer for a vote on the conservative immigration bill in June, which they said was too late. Some members of the Freedom Caucus suggested it would be time for Ryan to step down should moderates prevail. They said others — including Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., seen as the likeliest successor — so far lack the GOP votes they’d need to win the job. The moderates need 218 signatures — a House majority — on a petition to force votes on immigration bills, a rarely used procedure.

Source: National Post May 22, 2018 01:19 UTC