BIG UPDATE: PELOSI LOSES…
Democrats in the House are revolting against Nancy Pelosi in order to try and force her to vote on the bipartisan Senate bill, which passed yesterday:
THE HILL – Centrist Democrats said Thursday they have the votes to block an emergency border funding bill favored by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and liberals in the caucus.
The moderate Democrats are wary that the partisan standoff over new language to protect migrant children — language demanded by liberals — will sink negotiations and force vulnerable lawmakers to go home to face voters outraged over the escalating humanitarian crisis on the southern border.
The Senate passed their bipartisan bill yesterday with 34 Democratic votes, with even the the likes of Schumer and Durbin voting for it. But Pelosi, catering to many in her more liberal caucus, refuses to take the bill up in the House for a vote.
Instead, Pelosi wants to amend the $4.5 billion bill they passed Tuesday and vote on it this afternoon. But these Democrats are threatening to thwart that vote and it sounds like they might have enough numbers to do it.
Since Wednesday, when the Senate passed a $4.6 billion border bill with overwhelming bipartisan support, swing-district Democrats — a group known as “front-liners” — have joined forces with other moderate lawmakers to press Pelosi and party leaders to bring that legislation to the House floor.
Pelosi has so far refused, siding with the liberal wing of the party in demanding additional language providing for the explicit protection of the migrant children. Democrats had planned to vote on their amended bill Thursday afternoon.
Hours before the vote, however, Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), a leader of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, told Pelosi that’s he has rallied enough moderate Democrats to take down the rule on the amended House bill, according to a source familiar with that exchange.
“There’s a feeling we’re going 2 end up with the Senate bill anyway so let’s just get on w/ it,” the source said in a text message to The Hill.
It looks like, if those Democrats get their way, Pelosi will be forced to hold a vote on the Senate bill and it will very likely pass.
As it stands right now, Pelosi is trying to figure out how to get out of this mess:
NEW DETAILS … @vp and @SpeakerPelosi spoke about potential administrative fixes to border policy in an hourlong convo this morning, a source tells me.
Pence and W.H. position is House needs to pass senate bill.
Pelosi is talking to her leadership team now.
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) June 27, 2019
I’ll keep you updated as soon as we know more…