Newly minted Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi immediately showed Donald Trump what governing the country looks like on Thursday by calling for the passage of bipartisan measures that would reopen the federal government if the president would just sign them.
In her first press conference since reclaiming the gavel, Pelosi said the Democratic majority in the House would be sending the Senate legislation previously approved by Republicans that would reopen the government.
“We are diligent, diligent and persistent in trying to open up government,” the Speaker of the House said. “[Republicans] passed six bills, four of them on the floor with over 90 votes. Two of them in committee, unanimously, and those six bills cover eight agencies, departments of government that could be opened just by the stroke of the pen of the president of the United States.”
Video:
To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.
Speaker Pelosi says the House of Representatives is preparing to pass legislation to reopen the government. #ctl #p2 pic.twitter.com/rFYDrrxv4X
— PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) January 4, 2019
Pelosi was firm in her message:
As you are aware, we are diligent, diligent and persistent in trying to open up government. As I said today on the floor, we will take ideas, good ideas, from wherever they come, including the idea of the appropriations bills passed by the Republicans in the United States Senate. They passed six bills, four of them on the floor with over 90 votes. Two of them in committee, unanimously, and those six bills cover eight agencies, departments of government that could be opened just by the stroke of the pen of the president of the United States. Separate from that, we are sending what the Senate also passed which is a bill to extend — to have a continued resolution until February 8th, taking their exact date from the Senate. That would cover homeland security, give us the weeks needed to negotiate an agreement to open up government in that department. Again, we’ve taken word for word, and I’m going to yield in a moment after Mr. Hoyer to our distinguished chair of the appropriations committee to demonstrate how purely Republican and senatorial these measures were. And so we have separated it out. They’re two votes. One on the eight departments of government that could be opened now to meet the needs of the American people, to meet the needs of the American people to protect our borders and to protect our workers.
Trump looks like a petulant child while Democrats get to work
While Democrats were quick to get to work reopening the U.S. government on Thursday, Trump continues to look like a petulant child who had a toy taken from him.
His refusal to reopen the government over an unpopular border wall has put Republicans in an increasingly difficult position, particularly as more Americans feel the squeeze of the shutdown.
If Republicans refuse to approve the same legislation they passed two weeks ago to fund the government into February, they will look even more irresponsible and feel even more pressure from their constituents.
It’s been less than a day since Democrats took over in the House of Representatives and they are already giving Trump and Republicans a clinic on how to responsibly run the government.
Follow Sean Colarossi on Facebook.
Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.
