WH Chief of Staff on Leaked Immigration Proposal: Let’s Make Sure It Doesn’t Have to Be Proposed
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Official White House Photo by Pete Souza(NEW YORK) — Responding to sharp criticism from Sen. Marco Rubio over the leaked White House immigration proposal, President Obama’s Chief of Staff Denis McDonough pushed back on Sunday morning on This Week, in an interview with ABC’s Chief White House Correspondent Jonathan Karl, saying it was up to those in Congress to ensure the president’s proposal would not be sent to Congress.
“He [Marco Rubio] says its ‘dead on arrival’ if it’s proposed. Well let’s make sure that it doesn’t have to be proposed,” McDonough said. “Let’s make sure that that group up there, the gang of eight, makes the good progress on these efforts as much as they say they want to.”
After the White House proposal was leaked, Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, who is currently part of a bipartisan group at work on legislation to overhaul the immigration system of the United States, issued a statement saying “President Obama’s leaked immigration proposal is disappointing to those of us working on a serious solution. The President’s bill repeats the failures of past legislation.” He went on to say that if it was actually proposed, it would be “dead on arrival” in Congress.
Karl asked McDonough for a response, but said he was not interested in engaging in a political “scrum” with Rubio.
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