Another immigration bill pessimist

First Alabama's Jeff Sessions, now Arizona's Jeff Flake:

Rep. Jeff Flake (R.-Ariz.) told a group of conservative bloggers yesterday that the House was unlikely to act on any Senate-passed version of immigration reform legislation.

"It’s unlikely conferees will be appointed," Flake told the 15 bloggers, who gather weekly on Capitol Hill to meet and strategize. "If conferees are appointed, there’s a better chance we’ll have a bill."

Again, this would be bad news for Republicans seeking re-election. After thrusting Immigration into the spotlight, being seen as unable to do anything about it would be political suicide.

Even with the support of Democrats in the House, the bill still might not see the floor due to Dennis Haestert's "majority of the majority" rule:

In the past, House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) has blocked bills from coming to the chamber's floor unless they were supported by a majority of Republicans. He has reiterated that he plans to follow the so-called majority of the majority guideline for immigration legislation.

As a result, a compromise that attracted enough backing from a combination of Republicans and Democrats to pass the 435-member House would be kept from the floor if it lacked the support of more than half of the chamber's 231 GOP lawmakers.

"If Speaker Hastert insists on the 'majority of the majority,' [immigration reform] is dead," Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) said Tuesday.

So much for a bipartisan push in the House.