Rep. Meadows angrily confronts Speaker Ryan on House floor
Tensions spill onto House floor over immigration reform; reaction from Fox News political analyst and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.
The chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus angrily confronted House Speaker Paul Ryan over immigration legislation on the floor of the House of Representatives Wednesday.
Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., approached Ryan during a vote and began an animated discussion that lasted roughly half a minute. Both men pointed fingers at each other and reporters in the gallery could hear Meadows say, "I'm done! I'm done!" Meadows then turned and walked away while Ryan resumed chatting with other members.
Sources tell Fox News that the dispute stemmed from confusion over which of two immigration bills the House is expected to consider Thursday
The more conservative legislation has been dubbed "Goodlatte," after the bill's author, Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va. But a second bill, commonly called the "compromise" bill, has also been referred to as "Goodlatte," since he’s a sponsor of that package as well. Notably, House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., rebranded the compromise bill "the president's bill" instead of the "leadership" bill.
House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., left, and Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., were seen in a heated confrontation on the House floor. (AP, File)
Adding to the confusion, the House has also been toying with a third piece of legislation, a modified version of the conservative Goodlatte bill.
To try to clear up the confusion, the GOP leadership handled lawmakers some talking points about the compromise bill. However, Meadows claimed the "talking points don’t match the text" and "are not really for prime time."
"This was a communication issue where the leadership compromise bill omitted key provisions that had been agreed upon beforehand," Meadows spokesman Ben Williamson said in a statement. "We are working to resolve it."
Multiple Republican members told Fox News they were disturbed by the skirmish on the floor between Ryan and Meadows. One source said a few members who were a "hard yes" on the immigration legislation were now "squirming" after seeing the confrontation.
Though President Trump endorsed both the compromise and Goodlatte iterations of the bill in a meeting with House Republicans on Tuesday evening, lawmakers have struggled to secure the 215 votes necessary for passage. Earlier Wednesday, a senior House GOP source described the process to Fox News as an "uphill" battle.
Fox News' Samuel Chamberlain and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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