--- title: President Obama Responds to Republican Pushback on Immigration Reform description: President Obama criticized House Republicans as they voted on a no-chance plan to overturn his recent immigration actions. canonical: https://time.com/3618814/obama-response-republican-immigration/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-12-04T20:27:19.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T02:35:25.629Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Obama Responds to Republican Pushback on Immigration Reform og:description: President Obama criticized House Republicans as they voted on a no-chance plan to overturn his recent immigration actions. og:url: https://time.com/3618814/obama-response-republican-immigration/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2d04177eceff6ebf/69876cc4a988ca7d1e6ab2f9/obama-immigration-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1500 og:image:height: 844 og:image:alt: President Obama Departs White House For Chicago og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Obama Responds to Republican Pushback on Immigration Reform twitter:description: President Obama criticized House Republicans as they voted on a no-chance plan to overturn his recent immigration actions. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2d04177eceff6ebf/69876cc4a988ca7d1e6ab2f9/obama-immigration-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Obama Responds to Republican Push Back on Immigration Reform > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Dec 4, 2014 8:27 PM UTC  President Barack Obama walks toward Marine One while departing the White House on Nov. 25, 2014 in Washington, DC. President Barack Obama walks toward Marine One while departing the White House on Nov. 25, 2014 in Washington, DC. Mark Wilson—Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Dec 4, 2014 8:27 PM UTC On the same day that House Republicans voted for a no-chance bill to overturn his recent executive action on immigration, President Obama criticized them for failing to pass a comprehensive reform bill and instead working to “force talented young people” out of the country. “The immigration issue is, I recognize, one that generates a lot of passion, but it does not make sense for us to want to push talent out,” Obama said. Speaking at a White House summit on College Opportunity Thursday, Obama denounced a symbolic bill that passed the House along party lines later on Thursday, the [Preventing Executive Overreach on Immigration Act of 2014.](http://time.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/h-r-5759-amendment-12-2-14-preventing-executive-overreach-on-immigration-act-of-2014.pdf) (219 members voted for the bill, while 197 against it.) Introduced by Republican Rep. Ted Yoho of Florida, the bill would nullify Obama’s plan to grant work permits and temporary legal status to about [5 million undocumented immigrants](http://time.com/3595165/immigration-barack-obama-executive-action/). “Notwithstanding any other law, the executive branch of the Government shall not— exempt or defer, by Executive order, regulation, or any other means, categories of aliens considered under the immigration laws,” the [bill text reads](http://time.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/h-r-5759-amendment-12-2-14-preventing-executive-overreach-on-immigration-act-of-2014.pdf). The vote offers Republican lawmakers an opportunity to formally express their disdain for the president’s executive action. The bill has no chance of passing the current Senate, but Obama would veto it anyway. It also comes amid the pending struggle to ensure that the government stays funded after Dec. 11, which many speculated could be held up if the President acted alone on immigration. The vote will also come as 17 states including Texas, Alabama, Georgia, Montana and Louisiana [sued the federal government over the actions](http://time.com/3618378/obama-immigration-lawsuit/). Texas governor-elect Greg Abott is leading states’ charge against the action, saying it “tramples” the U.S. Constitution. Obama and the White House, however, are holding firm. Next Tuesday, the President will appear in Nashville to again tout his actions. “The President took action after leaving the door as wide open as possible for bipartisan action,”said a senior administration official. “He took an important first step and he will continue to press the case for that step and for Congress to do it’s job and fix the immigration system that is broken.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3618814/obama-response-republican-immigration/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3618814/obama-response-republican-immigration/"},"headline":"Obama Responds to Republican Push Back on Immigration Reform","datePublished":"2014-12-04T20:27:19.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T02:35:25.629Z","description":"Obama criticized Republicans for not working on their own immigration bill","url":"https://time.com/3618814/obama-response-republican-immigration/","keywords":["White House","President Obama"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2d04177eceff6ebf/69876cc4a988ca7d1e6ab2f9/obama-immigration-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2d04177eceff6ebf/69876cc4a988ca7d1e6ab2f9/obama-immigration-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President Obama Departs White House For Chicago","caption":"President Obama Departs White House For Chicago","creditText":"Mark Wilson—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3618814/obama-response-republican-immigration/","name":"Obama Responds to Republican Push Back on Immigration Reform"}}]}] ```