"Oh dear oh dear oh dear, the facts are getting in the way of our master plan WAIT WHAT FACTS I MAKE UP MY OWN FACTS I'M A CONSERVATIVE DAMMIT!!!!" Steven King's internal monologue on receiving this news, no doubt. The Hill:
In a statement released by Committee Chairman Hal Rogers's (R-Ky.) office hours before Obama's scheduled national address, the committee said the primary agency responsible for implementing Obama's actions is funded entirely by user fees.
As a result, the committee said the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) agency would be able to continue to collect fees and carry out its operations even if the government shut down.
“This agency is entirely self-funded through the fees it collects on various immigration applications," the committee said in a statement. "Congress does not appropriate funds for any of its operations, including the issuance of immigration status or work permits, with the exception of the ‘E-Verify’ program. Therefore, the appropriations process cannot be used to 'defund' the agency."
A spokesman for Rogers and the panel elaborated on the point in a discussion with reporters.
“We cannot, literally cannot, defund that agency in an appropriations bill because we don’t appropriate that agency. That agency is entirely fee-funded,” spokeswoman Jennifer Hing said.
[...] Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), who wants to defund the order, said he didn’t buy the argument from appropriators.
“I just don't believe that,” he told reporters.
And in the land of teabaggery, wishing always makes it so!
