House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, in the lead-up to last-minute budget negotiations, has rallied her Democratic colleagues to gear up for a fight, telling them that they still hold plenty of leverage if only they stick together.
A budget impasse could send the government into a shutdown. But in a closed-door session with key Democrats, Ms. Pelosi said party members shouldn’t just cave to Republican budget demands — they should stand strong and press for what’s important to their liberal base.
“If we stay together, we have leverage,” she said, Politico reported, citing sources in the room. “If you think it’s a good idea to tell them, ’Oh, I’ll be with you no matter what,’ then you destroy our leverage. And if they have the votes, then it’s a non situation. If they have 218, if it isn’t too brutal, the president will have to make a decision. But we don’t have to vote against our interest if they have the 218. We’re willing to compromise if they want to do that to one of us.”
The House is set to vote on a budget that will keep the government up and running until September. Meanwhile, the Republican-led House will only fund Homeland Security through February — and Speaker John Boehner needs several Democrats on board to pass the bill. Several in the Republican Party have denounced it, Politico reported.
At the same time, Mr. Boehner said to reporters on Thursday: “I expect that we’ll have bipartisan support to pass the omnibus appropriations bill,” Politico reported.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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