(Reuters) – Tea Party Republicans who led the charge into a 16-day government shutdown last year are now taking a more pragmatic approach as they weigh options on how to fight President Barack Obama’s immigration order.
Pushed by their dissident wing, Republicans blocked government funding in September 2013 in a bid to stop Obama’s healthcare reform law, but now numerous Tea Party members appear reluctant to take the battle over immigration that far.
Instead, even the most strident conservative Republicans are talking about a short-term funding fix that would keep the government running into early next year, when the party takes control of the Senate.
The government’s funding authority expires on Dec. 11, providing possible leverage to opponents of Obama’s plan to allow millions of undocumented immigrants to stay and work in the United States.