Last updated on September 25th, 2023 at 08:42 pm
Image: Pelosi/Boehner, AP/ Pablo Martinez Monsivals
Democrats are standing tall against the bill to fund the government. Speaker John Boehner lacks the votes for passage, so Republicans have delayed the vote.
Roll Call reported,
Unsure whether they have the votes to pass a trillion-dollar federal spending package, House GOP leaders on Thursday afternoon delayed a final vote on the “cromnibus.”
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They did so with mere hours to go until the government is set to run out of funding, and just before the House was scheduled to vote.
GOP leaders called a recess to floor proceedings, with a GOP leadership aide confirming “no conference meeting [is] planned at this time.” The aide said “leadership teams are still talking to their respective members,” and noted, “We still plan to vote this afternoon.”
The first sign that trouble was on the horizon for Republicans came when Boehner had to leave a vote on the rules of the debate surrounding the bill open for 33 minutes in order to pass it by a single vote.
The storm clouds became evident when Nancy Pelosi took the House floor to announce her opposition to the bill, and that she would not be voting for it. Pelosi said, “We’re being asked to vote for a moral hazard. Why is this in an appropriations bill? Because it was the price to pay to get an appropriations bill…This is a ransom; this is blackmail. You don’t get a bill unless Wall Street gets its taxpayer coverage. It’s really so sad.”
It is simple. If Democrats don’t support the bill, it will not pass. Pelosi’s words carry a ton of weight with House Democrats, and there are an estimate 50-60 Republicans who won’t vote for the bill.
If Democrats keep standing tall, it will not be a surprise to see the Dodd-Frank rollback language removed from the bill. Boehner has two choices. He can try to find enough Republican support to pass the bill on his own, or he could pass a short-term funding extension to keep the government open for an extra week while the bill gets changed.
John Boehner is completely flopping while Democrats are flexing their muscles and refusing to be blackmailed.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
