House Majority Leader Eric Cantor appears to be moving toward the center as he tries to unite the House around issues in which Republicans and Democrats can find common ground.
"The growing realization around here is that the differences [between the parties] are still there, but that doesn't mean we can't focus on the things that bring us together," Cantor told
The Washington Post. "The public is looking for someone who has their back."
The Virginia Republican has dropped his push for major cuts to federal programs and moved to pushing for more funding for pediatric cancer research, talking about solutions to urban poverty and education reforms, and he recently appeared at a civil rights event in Mississippi to honor Democratic Rep. John Lewis of Georgia.
He has also been working behind the scenes to get House Republicans to support legislation that would allow some illegal immigrants that were brought across the border as children to become legal residents.
However, some of the more conservative members of the House are skeptical of the shift.
"Those of us who elected Eric expected him to be a lot more aggressive than he is right now," said Republican Rep. Dana Rohrabacher of California.
Cantor's tea party primary opponent Randolf-Macon College economics professor David Brat has called him an "Obama ally and amnesty's staunchest proponent," according to the Post.
However, the majority leader also continues to challenge the Obama administration and recently helped pass the Enforce the Law Act followed by a report on Obama's
"imperial presidency."
"The administration has engaged in a series of ad hoc announcements that ignore statutory deadlines, waive unwaivable provisions of the law, and even create benefits not authorized in law," Cantor said in the report.
The House majority leader is now working on an alternative healthcare plan, but he is making sure he has enough support from conservatives before he presents it, the Post reported.
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