The far-left fringe of the Democratic caucus is flexing its muscle to try to implement last-minute changes in a $3 trillion spending bill.
The small group of liberals, led by Rep. Pramila Jayapal, has unusual leverage: No Republican is supporting the spending measure, which means Democrats cannot afford to lose many in their caucus if they hope to pass the measure with a majority vote.
The House will vote on the measure Friday, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi is urging her caucus to support it.
According to a top Democratic aide, a small group of lawmakers who participated in a caucus-wide conference call persisted with efforts to try to add a provision to the measure that would provide a basic monthly income for many workers.
Authored by Jayapal, a Washington state Democrat, it would, among other things, provide full worker salaries up to $100,000 “to ensure employers of all sizes keep workers on the payroll and continue to provide employer-sponsored benefits.”
But Democrats excluded the pricey program from the measure and instead added another round of $1,200 direct cash payments and an extension of an unemployment insurance increase.
Jayapal called on Democratic leaders to postpone the measure to allow lawmakers to make changes.
“With more than 33 million people filing for unemployment in seven weeks, workers are looking for certainty about how we end mass unemployment and how they’ll get their next paycheck,” Jayapal said Tuesday. “This legislation doesn’t end mass unemployment, and it doesn’t get paychecks back into their pockets.”
But Democratic leaders have decided to forbid amendments and forge ahead with Friday’s vote.
Pelosi plans to “steamroll ahead” with the measure, the aide said, despite grumbling from her left flank.
On Wednesday’s conference call, Pelosi warned lawmakers, “There is no perfect bill,” and said the spending measure would provide much-needed aid to the country weeks into an economic shutdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Despite complaints from some lawmakers, the aide said, “I don’t think there is significant opposition to this.”
Democrats can’t afford to lose many of their own rank and file if they hope to pass the bill.
Democrats control 233 seats, and it will take 216 to pass the measure if all 430 sitting House members show up for the vote. There are likely to be some missing lawmakers, which would lower the majority threshold but potentially narrow the margin for Democrats.
They won’t get any help from Republicans, who have flatly rejected the measure.
Majority Whip Steve Scalise, a Louisiana Republican, sent GOP lawmakers a memo urging them to vote against “this $3 trillion socialist wish list.”
But Democrats say they can keep the opposition low enough in their own party to ensure passage.
The Democratic aide predicted “fewer than five” Democrats would vote against the measure, “because it is far too important.”
The measure would provide $1 trillion to state, local, municipal, and tribal governments to help them keep operating without the tax revenue lost because of the economic shutdown.
It would spend $200 billion in “hazard pay” for those working in grocery stores, medical facilities and other front-line jobs, a new round of $1,200 direct payments to individuals, and an extension to January of the $600 in extra unemployment insurance benefits now provided to those who lost jobs in the pandemic.
The measure also calls for $175 billion to pay for rent, mortgages, utilities, and other housing costs for those who cannot pay.
It would also increase food stamp benefits by 15% and provide $25 billion to bail out the Postal Service, which is badly in debt and threatening it cannot continue functioning without a new infusion of federal aid.
The Republican-majority Senate is opposed to the bill, but GOP lawmakers will likely have to negotiate with Democrats on a new spending legislation in the coming weeks to help underfunded states. Republicans will also include lawsuit liability reform in any new spending measure, which they said would help usher a reopening of the economy.
President Trump on Wednesday called the House bill “D.O.A.”
