Conservatives have worried for weeks that passing smaller pieces of immigration reform legislation out of the House -- as Republicans have moved to do -- would lead to a House-Senate conference committee in which the larger Senate immigration bill might win out.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who led the comprehensive effort in the Senate, has said any conference committee must promise not to consider the Senate's bill and only consider the House's legislation.
Boehner's comments effectively put an end to that prospect. And given the House hasn't shown much interest in passing a comprehensive immigration bill of its own, it could put an end to whatever chance Congress had of achieving that goal -- one Republican leaders pushed for following their drubbing among Latino voters in the 2012 presidential election. Mitt Romney took just 27 percent of the Hispanic vote, according to exit polls.
The House is working on a series of piecemeal immigration bills, most of which deal with enforcement and other issues but not with what to do with most of the millions of people who are in the United States illegally. Democrats have pushed for a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants -- a centerpiece of most comprehensive immigration bills in recent years -- but the House Republican conference has so far declined to embrace that idea.
Boehner previously said that the House wouldn't vote on the Senate immigration bill, which might be able to pass but has very limited House GOP support. He has also said any bill -- including one from a House-Senate conference committee -- would have to have the support of a majority of House Republicans in order to come to a vote.
Wednesday's comments appear to take this a step farther, not even allowing that conference committee to occur if the Senate's bill is involved.
The White House on Wednesday declined to criticize the step by Boehner, instead urging him to press forward with the House's own version of comprehensive immigration reform.
"I noted that the speaker said that he has instructed members of his team to devise principles on immigration reform, and I think that's a welcome step," White House press secretary Jay Carney said.
President Obama has continued to push for immigration reform, even as it has been pushed to the back burner by issues including Syria, the budget debate and the problems with HealthCare.gov and Obamacare.
Obama has met at the White House this month with business and religious leaders pushing for comprehensive immigration reform.
Updated at 5:03 p.m.
