Democratsโ shutdown rage erupts in call โ โPeople are f**king pissedโ โ Axios
Newsletters
Updated 22 hours ago โ Politics & Policy
Democratsโ shutdown civil war spills out in private call
Rep. Melanie Stansbury walks through the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 2. Photo: Kayla Bartkowski /Bloomberg via Getty Images.
A private call of House Democrats devolved into a furious vent session Monday afternoon as lawmakers fumed about a group of Senate centrists cutting a deal with Republicans to end the shutdown.
Why it matters: Over a dozen House Democrats spoke on the call, with the vast majority slamming the deal, sources told Axios โ a volume that reflects deep outrage between the two chambers.
- Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.) said the public is incensed at what they see as Democrats caving on the shutdown fight, telling her colleagues, โPeople are f**king pissed.โ
- Nearly โeveryone [was] strongly againstโ the deal, said one House Democrat who was on the call but spoke on the condition of anonymity to share details of a private discussion.
Between the lines: Itโs not just a fight between the House and Senate, with a growing number of House Democrats urging their colleagues to stop training their fire on fellow party members.
- House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) instructed members to keep the focus on health care and not on โa few individuals in the Senate,โ according to three lawmakers who were on the call.
- Rep. Susie Lee (D-Nev.), the leadership representative for members in battleground districts, similarly told her colleagues to focus their shutdown-related attacks on Republicans, not Democrats.
State of play: House Democrats and liberal grassroots groups erupted into rage Sunday after a group of eight Senate Democrats voted to advance a bill to reopen the government.
- The deal the Democratic centrists struck with Republicans includes the promise of a Senate vote next month on renewing expiring Affordable Care Act tax credits.
- But the bill would need 60 votes to pass, and the deal doesnโt guarantee a House vote, making it unlikely Democrats will actually succeed in securing an extension.
Zoom in: Roughly half of those who spoke on Mondayโs call either directly criticized Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) or did so implicitly by agreeing with previous speakers who tore into him, sources said.
- Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), the former chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, argued that either the Senate leader โcanโt control his caucusโ or he โgave his blessingโ to the deal.
- A Schumer spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Yes, but: Despite the widespread anger towards the deal among progressive and moderate House Democrats, some of the partyโs most centrist members are expressing openness to voting for it.
- Just as the caucus call was getting started, Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine), a retiring centrist who has openly opposed his partyโs shutdown strategy, signaled he is supportive of the Senate deal.
- โCongressman Goldenโs position on using a government shutdown as a legislative strategy has been clear and has not changed,โ a spokesperson told Axios, while stressing his support for extending ACA tax credits.
- Lee said on the call that she, personally, is undecided on the bill even as Jeffries has said he opposes it and vowed to fight it.
Whatโs next: Jeffries vowed to fight the deal in the House and floated the possibility of a discharge petition to force a vote on extending ACA tax credits, sources said.
Editorโs Note: Stay tuned.. more coming on thisโฆ a DWD Editorial.
Continue/Read Original Article Here: Democratsโ shutdown rage erupts in call: โPeople are f**king pissedโ
#axios #brokeShutdown #chuckSchumer #democraticParty #eightRenegades #federalGovernmentShutdown #fooled #gainedNothing #governmentShutdown #hakeemJeffries #madeDealWithTrump #melanieStansbury #pissed #rage #trustTrump