Cantor's ouster by a Tea Party-backed conservative in his Virginia district on Tuesday has sent political shock waves coursing through Washington, and a leading school of thought is that the move means Obama's long-sought attempt to rewrite immigration laws is dead.
Cantor was seen by his opponents as flirting with trying to steer the House into supporting immigration legislation, although White House spokesman Josh Earnest noted that Cantor had campaigned against an immigration deal.
Obama, at a fund-raising event for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, told a dinner crowd that "some of you saw that there was an interesting election yesterday."
"It's interesting to listen to the pundits and the analysts and some of the conventional wisdom talks about how the politics of immigration reform seem impossible. I fundamentally reject that," Obama said.
Obama, under pressure from Hispanic groups to get a deal done, said he will tell House Speaker John Boehner that he needs to reject the view as well that a reform deal is dead because "politics can't play a part in it."