Executive reaction

In his immigration speech last Thursday, President Barack Obama challenged Republican critics of his executive action to just “pass a bill.”

Now, the president’s allies have been holding urgent private sessions to make sure that any GOP bill — one of which could come to the floor next Thursday — doesn’t undo all of what the president has done.

Story Continued Below

The White House, congressional Democrats and advocacy groups plan to launch a coordinated campaign to portray Obama’s decision to give up to 5 million undocumented immigrants a reprieve from deportation as good policy and dispel the notion that its benefits will mainly be felt in the Latino community.

(Also on POLITICO: Is the tea party ready to chill out?)

Since Obama announced the plan, Democrats have quietly been developing a strategy to defend it on Capitol Hill, sell it to voters and sign up the almost 5 million undocumented immigrants who could be shielded under the new actions.

The closed meetings reflect Democrats’ anxiety that they could lose the battle for public opinion and bungle the implementation just as they did with the health care law. If that happens, supporters worry that the incoming Republican Senate majority could peel away enough Democrats to pass a bill that weakens the executive actions, setting off a potentially damaging showdown with Obama.

Indeed, House Republican leadership is tentatively reserving time on the floor next week to respond already to the executive actions on immigration, according to sources involved with planning.

(Also on POLITICO: Dysfunction D.C. agrees on)

The House Republican Conference will hold a closed meeting Tuesday morning when it returns from the Thanksgiving recess, and if there is consensus early in the week on a way to respond, a bill could come to the floor as early as Thursday, an aide said.

Speaker John Boehner has several options: The leadership team is considering trying to pass a government funding bill that could target some immigration enforcement funding, or it might directly respond to the executive action in a standalone bill.

Early polling shows that Americans agree with Obama’s decision to allow millions of undocumented immigrants with family ties to stay in the country, but they don’t like the way he did it. This gives an opening for Republicans to chip away at support for the executive move.

“We’re gearing up to defend this win,” said Frank Sharry, executive director of America’s Voice. “Our work is clear: Lobby Democrats to stay strong, try to make Republicans pay a price for attacking it, persuade the public that it’s good policy, make sure the people directly affected are heard by the American people and challenge the strident voices on the far right who seem intent on denying the humanity of those who will be able to come forward. We like our chances.”

(Also on POLITICO: Schumer joins criticism chorus)

The campaign has many different aims, audiences and messages. Supporters will rely heavily on social networks and non-traditional media outlets to reach young people and minorities who may be eligible to apply. Meanwhile, Obama and his allies are framing the program as an “accountability” measure, pushing back at Republican amnesty claims. And Democrats are going out of their way to show the issue isn’t just a Latino one, with Obama speaking Tuesday at a Chicago community center built by Polish immigrants and Vice President Joe Biden writing an op-ed for an Irish website.

A top priority is keeping the half-dozen or so Senate Democrats and one independent who disagreed with Obama’s decision to act unilaterally from siding with Republicans on legislative efforts to kill it. The best way to do that, supporters argue, is through a seamless implementation, a robust communications strategy and an overwhelming response from millions of immigrants who want to enroll in the program — an outcome that could make it politically untenable for lawmakers to reverse.

At least six senators — Democrats Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Claire McCaskill of Missouri and Jon Tester of Montana, and independent Angus King of Maine — have expressed concerns about the executive action. That means Republicans, who will likely control 54 Senate votes in the next Congress, could reach the 60-vote threshold to break a filibuster and send a bill to Obama.

Though Obama would almost surely veto such a bill, there are signs that the White House doesn’t have to worry about him having to use his veto pen, at least not now. Heitkamp and King indicated to POLITICO through press aides this week that they would not work to unravel the measure.

“What Sen. King would support is legislation that would fix our broken immigration system,” King spokeswoman Kathleen Connery Dawe said.

Heitkamp, who said last week that Obama’s executive action may “poison” potential cooperation in the new Senate, stressed through an aide that she wants to “accomplish the goals of the Senate bill, not detract from it.” She was referring to the Gang of Eight immigration reform bill that passed last year but was not brought for a vote in the House.

Over the next few months, Obama will take the lead role in explaining why he decided to act on his own, with aides saying he will travel, sit for interviews and give speeches.

White House communications director Jennifer Palmieri recruited Angela Kelley, a veteran immigration strategist from the Center for American Progress, to focus exclusively on implementing the executive actions. She is working with domestic policy adviser Cecilia Muñoz and deputy chief of staff Kristie Canegallo on a communications and outreach strategy that mirrors the plan used to reach young people and minorities during the Obamacare enrollment drive.

“We are prepared to spend a lot of staff and presidential time on this,” Palmieri said.

Senate Democratic leaders have brought on a small group of lawmakers to work with them on spearheading the communications strategy in...