Immigration Reform 2014: Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell Sees ‘Irresolvable Conflict’ On Legislation

House GOP leaders presented last week their “statement of principles” on what immigration reform should look like. Other influential conservatives with their eye on potential Republican gains in the Democrat-controlled Senate in an election year say it’s a bad idea to push legislation on an issue which is so sensitive for the Republican base. The Hill suggested on Tuesday that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) might sympathize with the latter, putting him in the ranks of other Republicans who are treading lightly on the issue, refraining from criticizing the House GOP plans but withholding their support for it.

"I think we have an irresolvable conflict here,” McConnell said after a meeting with the Senate Republican conference, according to CNN. “The Senate insists on comprehensive. The House says it won't go to conference with the Senate on comprehensive and wants to look at step-by-step. I don't see how you get to an outcome this year with the two bodies in such a place." Other Republicans in the Senate and House who have showed support for an immigration overhaul have echoed that skepticism in recent comments. That crowd also includes Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.), who said this week the future of a reform was “clearly in doubt,” and Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), who helped negotiate some aspects of the Senate comprehensive bill.

The Huffington Post reports that House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said before McConnell made his comments on Tuesday that he thought House GOP members had “seemed to be rather supportive of" the statement of principles he and other House leaders presented at a party retreat at Maryland’s Eastern Shore last week. "There was a lot of discussion about whether we should proceed and if we proceeded how we would proceed,” he said. “It's also clear from our members that we believe that securing our borders has to be the first step in this process. But we're continuing to take comments from members about the draft principles, continuing the conversation that we started last Thursday. No decisions have been made."