It would be a mistake for Congressional Republicans to take up the "dreamers" issue, as they first need to do what the American public elected them to do, Rep. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., said Monday.
"We ran on a certain set of priorities for the American people," DeSantis, a member of the House Oversight Committee, told Fox News' "Fox & Friends." "The president ran on it. If you look so far, the cupboard has really been bare."
So far, promises to repeal and replace Obamacare, tackle spending and debt, tackle welfare reform, and reforming taxes have not happened, DeSantis said, nor has Trump's promise to "drain the swamp."
"I think moving on to something controversial a lot of Republicans didn't run on, you know I think that would be a mistake," said the congressman. "I think we have to do what the American people sent us here to do. That has to be the first order of business."
DeSantis pointed out there is much more to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program than just determining whether people should stay or be deported, and he is of the opinion former President Barack Obama did not have the authority to make the policy through an executive order.
"There was move to remove amnesty in Congress several years ago, and it failed," DeSantis said. "President Obama responded to that."
DACA allowed for items such as work permits and Social Security cards, the congressman continued, and "by law, those can only be done by statute. It cannot be done by executive fiat."
He noted there would be an outcry if President Donald Trump, after the Senate failed to repeal and replace Obamacare, had signed a memo to replace the healthcare measure.
"That is not the way the system works," DeSantis said.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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