Jayapal Says It’s Worth It to Pass Spending Bill and Climate Legislation Even If Democrats Lose the House

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Last updated on July 18th, 2023 at 01:41 pm

Representative Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) says that it’s worth Democrats passing the party’s spending bill and climate change legislation even if Democrats lose the House in next year’s midterm elections.

“Of course it’s worth it if we’re making people’s lives better,” Jayapal said.

“What’s the alternative? To do nothing. I mean, that’s not gonna that’s not gonna get us anywhere … part of what we have to do is really understand the economic frustration that people have right now. And I think that is really important for us.”

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On the suggestion that the spending bill is a “messaging bill,” Jayapal was firm.

“It’s not. Ninety-eight percent of this bill has been pre-conferenced. Ninety-eight percent of this was agreed to in a framework that President [Joe] Biden put out [that] now has been translated into legislative text,” she said, noting that the remaining “two percent” would account for a national paid family and medical leave program.

“I submit that paid leave has not been agreed to. So, that’s going to be something that has to be worked out and anything that’s parliamentary,” she said, hinting at opposition from Senator Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.), whose vote Democrats have had to aggressively court. “But the idea that this is just a bill that has everything thrown in is not true.”

Yesterday, Manchin decried a “hostile” work environment in Congress which he says is rife with partisanship.

“You want to know what’s wrong with the place? I go to work in a hostile working environment every day. If you’re a Democrat, and a Republican is up for election, you’re supposed to be against that person,” Manchin told host John Berman on “New Day.”

“If Donald Duck’s running against that person, you’re supposed to get money from your PAC to help the other person beat the person that you’ve been working with. And even sometimes they’ll say, ‘can you come campaign against so and so?’ And then we come back on Monday, and here’s a person that we’ve given money against,” he added.