New Hampshire Republican Senator Kelly Ayotte is weighing-in on immigration reform. This after House Speaker John Boehner said he didn’t think he could pass a bill this year.
On Face the Nation Sunday, Ayotte called “the status quo” on immigration issues “totally unacceptable.” Last summer, the Senate passed a bipartisan, comprehensive immigration bill. Although House Speaker John Boehner faced pressure from conservative Republicans to kill the bill, Ayotte stopped short of blaming him or his caucus.
“I supported the bill in the Senate. I think we should solve this. I hope the Speaker can find a way forward," she said. "You know, certainly the bill that came out of the Senate was not perfect, but it was a good solution to a hard problem. I think this is an important issue to solve, not only for the country, but for the Republican Party.”
Ayotte blamed President Obama for the immigration impasse. Obama has made the issue one of his top priorities this term. But Ayotte said there was a “deficit of trust” between House Republicans and the president following the botched rollout of the Affordable Care Act and Obama’s State of the Union promise to use more executive orders.