House report: It's 'impossible' to defund Obama's immigration order

House report: It&#039;s &#039;impossible&#039; to defund Obama&#039;s immigration order

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last updated 8 January 2015

The House Appropriations Committee has concluded that it would be "impossible" to stop President Obama's executive action to curtail deportations, The Hill reports.

The committee, which handles federal spending matters, said in a statement that the agency affected by Obama's impending order is "entirely self-funded through the fees it collects on various immigration applications." Meaning, even if Republicans wanted to use Congress' power of the purse to negate Obama's order, they wouldn't be able to.

"Congress does not appropriate funds for any of its operations, including the issuance of immigration status or work permits, with the exception of the 'E-Verify' program," the committee wrote. "Therefore, the appropriations process cannot be used to 'defund' the agency."

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Jon Terbush is an associate editor at TheWeek.com covering politics, sports, and other things he finds interesting. He has previously written for Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, and Business Insider.