Thursday, Speaker Pelosi made a sudden about face on the border aid war and agreed to pass the Senate’s version of the bill, which has been hotly debated for weeks.
From Politico:
Speaker Nancy Pelosi formally bowed to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in a weeks-long battle with the GOP over the border aid bill, saying the House will take up the Senate’s version of the relief package.The move caps four days of havoc amid a contentious debate within Pelosi’s caucus over how to respond to the mounting humanitarian crisis.In a stunning reversal, Pelosi halted a planned vote on the House Democrats’ version of the border aid bill as she and her deputies faced a revolt by a group of more than 18 Democratic centrists, who vowed to tank the bill on the floor.In a high-profile surrender in a faceoff with McConnell, Pelosi sent a letter to her caucus explaining her rationale.”The children come first. At the end of the day, we have to make sure that the resources needed to protect the children are available,” she wrote. “Therefore, we will not engage in the same disrespectful behavior that the Senate did in ignoring our priorities. In order to get resources to the children fastest, we will reluctantly pass the Senate bill.”Hours earlier, Pelosi had an hour-long call with Vice President Mike Pence during which the two discussed administrative fixes as a possible way to appease Democratic demands for tougher restrictions on the border money, according to a source familiar with the conversation.McConnell said the White House’s concession to comply with some of the Democratic requests administratively was an attempt by Pence “to be as accommodating as possible.”
The administrative concessions reportedly include the following:
According to some reports, caucus members are blaming Senate Minority Leader Schumer for forcing the hand of House Democrats as so many Senate Democrats voted for the bill which passed with a vote of 84-8.
Rep. Ocasio-Cortez is one of the few Democrat dissenters is up in arms about the sudden turn of events:
For months, Republicans have warned about the crisis at the border only to be met by Democrats who refused to acknowledge any crisis until it became politically expedient to do so.
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