Farm bill, immigration in limbo after GOP link

House conservatives flexed their legislative muscle last week in helping defeat the farm bill that Republican leaders had been desperate to pass — but even leading members of the right-wing rebellion said they are not sure what happens now.

They hoped to use the farm bill as leverage to win support for their immigration strategy, but Republican leaders decided instead to shoot the hostage — the farm bill — leaving both sides trying to figure out who has the upper hand now.

While Speaker Paul D. Ryan, Wisconsin Republican, set the wheels in motion for a do-over vote on the $868 billion farm bill, the conservatives said they were still waiting for leaders to announce an acceptable strategy to stave off Democratic leaders’ immigration push by putting a more conservative, enforcement-heavy bill on the floor.

“Go back to the drawing board,” said Rep. Ted S. Yoho of Florida, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, which was pushing for the immigration vote.

At first glance, the farm bill — which sets agriculture policy, authorizes the massive program of taxpayer supports and subsidies for farmers, and controls spending on food assistance programs — was an odd piece of legislation to get snared in the ongoing fight over immigration.

But after Democrats said they would oppose the farm bill, conservatives realized they had leverage and could doom the measure if they, too, withheld their votes. Some 30 Republicans joined Democrats to defeat the bill by a vote of 213-198.

It was a serious blow to Mr. Ryan, the outgoing speaker, who made repeated personal appeals for lawmakers to pass the farm bill as part of his pro-work, anti-poverty legacy agenda.

For now, the focus shifts back to the immigration debate and to a petition drive led by more liberal Republicans and Democrats to force a general amnesty for illegal immigrant “Dreamers” onto the chamber floor over the objections of Republican leaders.

As of Friday, 20 Republicans had signed the petition along with 176 Democrats, giving them 196 total signatures. If they can get to a majority of the House, they win and the House would have to vote on several different legalization bills.

Republican leaders publicly object to the “discharge petition,” as it’s known on Capitol Hill, but behind the scenes have sent mixed signals. Some analysts pointed to a lack of campaign pressure from Republican leaders on their party rebels who signed onto the petition.

It was that petition that the conservatives were trying to head off, demanding a quick vote on an enforcement-heavy bill sponsored by Rep. Bob Goodlatte, Virginia Republican. The conservatives argued that if they could arrange that vote, even if it failed to pass, it would derail the amnesty push.

But Rep. Patrick T. McHenry of North Carolina, the Republicans’ chief deputy whip, said the conservatives’ move to link that to the farm bill will backfire. He said frustrated Republicans will now sign onto the discharge petition, forcing the party into yet another embarrassing ideological split.

“The unfortunate thing is by this show, it gives more leverage on the discharge petition, which I think is highly destructive,” said Mr. McHenry.

Moderate Republicans also said the standoff deepened a rift that has long made the House nearly ungovernable.

“To me, it just creates more division,” said Rep. Peter T. King, New York Republican. “[We] should have a vote, but they want to slant it one way — that’s the problem. I just don’t like the idea of them having the veto power over the party.”

Rep. Tom Reed, New York Republican, likened the conservatives’ farm bill-immigration standoff to hostage negotiations.

“The immigration issue, in my opinion, needs to be resolved, needs to be addressed, and we should be able to take care of that in and of itself rather than play this game of mixing in other legislation by taking hostages,” Mr. Reed said.

Democrats watched the Republican implosion from the sidelines.

Rep. John A. Yarmuth, Kentucky Democrat, laughed when asked whether the Freedom Caucus ended up helping or hurting their cause by tying the two issues together.

“I don’t think they’re helping,” said Mr. Yarmuth, who signed the immigration petition on Friday.

Mr. Yarmuth, who was part of a bipartisan House group that worked on immigration reform in 2013, also said all lawmakers should take any immigration-related pledges from Republican leadership with a grain of salt.

“I don’t trust Republican leadership to do anything on immigration,” he said. “It’s been five years, and they refuse to bring anything to the floor. So, no, I don’t trust them.”

Meanwhile on the farm bill, Democrats said Republican leaders should scrap their current version, ditch the conservatives and work to earn Democrats’ votes instead.

Rep. Collin C. Peterson of Minnesota, the top Democrat on the Agriculture Committee, said he had told Republicans it was a mistake to include new work requirements for food stamp recipients, which many Democrats cited as the chief reason for their opposition.

“We don’t have to let this process be held hostage by the demands of the extremes of our parties,” he said. “We can and should take the time to get the farm bill right.”