Just before the vote, Pelosi and her leadership team were forced into a last-minute whipping operation to prevent moderate Democrats from defecting on a GOP procedural vote, which would have jeopardized passage of the $3 trillion bill.
Republicans attempted to split the Democratic caucus by forcing a vote related to undocumented immigrants — a tough issue for those in Trump districts.
But the gambit didn’t work after a personal lobbying effort by Pelosi, who buttonholed more than a dozen centrist Democrats on the floor ahead of the vote. In the end, only 14 Democrats joined with Republicans and the GOP motion was defeated.
In some ways, Pelosi took a huge gamble by pushing through a massive messaging bill that will be ignored by the GOP-controlled Senate, while opening up the most vulnerable Democrats to nasty attacks from Republicans over some of the bill’s most controversial provisions.
Pelosi has countered that it is Republicans — not Democrats — who should worry about the response back home after they vote against this latest aid bill, which would deliver nearly $1 trillion in relief to struggling state and local governments, expand food assistance and unemployment benefits, offer student debt relief for some Americans and provide another round of stimulus payments.
„Some of the members say, ‘Let’s take a pause.’ Let’s take a pause? Do you think this virus is taking a pause?“ Pelosi said in a floor speech, making a final pitch to her caucus ahead of the vote.
„Do you think that the rent takes a pause? Do you think that putting food on the table or the hunger that comes if you can’t takes a pause?“
Pelosi has worked hard to soothe discontent within her caucus, fielding complaints from members about changes to pension programs and from members who wanted to provide greater financial security for the 36 million people out of work.
In one particularly tense moment earlier this week, Jayapal confronted Pelosi on a caucus-wide call, decrying the fact that her popular proposal was left out of the final package.
Progressive leaders also debated a floor strategy that would temporarily block the bill from coming to the floor, but did not ultimately use the tactic. In a sign of Pelosi’s hold over her caucus, most Democrats have relegated their complaints to private calls with colleagues and leadership, declining to criticize the speaker publicly.
House Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal (D-Mass.) said he understood members’ critiques but added the uniqueness of the current situation makes drafting bills even more complicated.
Neal’s staff worked with Jayapal to try to turn her idea into legislative text but say they ran out of time to incorporate it into this bill. Still, Democratic leaders haven’t ruled out adding Jayapal’s proposal to a future coronavirus relief bill.
„We’re just up against this pandemic and we’re all doing the social distancing, we’re all doing the zooming,” Neal said.
„I invited all members to talk to either me or the Ways and Means staff and many of them didn’t take advantage of it. I understand the critique but there’s also a competing reality here and we’re living in it.“
Source: politico.com
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