On Friday morning, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) called for a compromise with the White House on illegal immigration by reviving the "Gang of Eight" measure that passed the Senate four years ago and included a controversial "path to citizenship" for millions now in the U.S. illegally.
On Friday afternoon, the White House left little doubt that is not what the president means by saying he was open to compromise on dealing with illegal immigration.
"That particular bill was a non-starter, it continues to be a non-starter," press secretary Sean Spicer told us, referring to the "Gang of Eight" measure that Pelosi was pushing.
The Gang of Eight was a group of four senators from each major party that in 2013 set out to craft a compromise bill dealing with illegal immigration.
The exchange between Pelosi and Spicer began when Newsmax asked the House Democratic leader if she felt there was an opportunity to compromise with President Trump on a solution to the problem of illegal immigration.
"Yes, I do see plenty of opportunity to work on the immigration bill," Pelosi said at a press breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor.
She explained that she was referring to the Gang of Eight proposal, which passed the Senate 68-32 in June 2013.
"I think that if they had given it a vote [in the House] it would have won," Pelosi added. "So yes, I do see a path in terms of having comprehensive immigration reform . . . The Senate has shown it can come to that. The House can if the speaker will give us a vote. That's all we ask for. Give us a vote. What are you afraid of?"
Since the Gang of Eight was voted on four years ago, a number of its senators have since reconsidered their original position because of the "path to citizenship" that would automatically naturalize millions already in the U.S. illegally. One of the senators was himself a member of the Gang of Eight, Marco Rubio of Florida.
"I think the president's been very clear on the campaign trail that's not a bill that he supports," Spicer told Newsmax, in response to our question about Pelosi's call for reviving the Gang of Eight proposal.
"But he looks forward to engaging with members of Congress to find a way forward to fix our broken immigration system. That particular bill was a non-starter, it continues to be a non-starter. But the president recognizes the system is broken and that he wants to work with Congress to fix it."