McCarthy says Pelosi's push to quickly pass spending bill shows Dems didn't learn from elections this week
Election results in Virginia, New Jersey amount to rejection of progressive policies in reconciliation bill, McCarthy said
Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga., on Democrats scrambling to get enough votes to pass Biden's economic agenda.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy argued Thursday that Democrats are not learning their lesson from the elections in New Jersey and Virginia this week, which Republicans argue amounted to a rejection of progressive policies in Democrats' reconciliation bill.
"Tuesday's results show an important truth. Voters from Virginia to Texas to Seattle to Minneapolis to New Jersey sent a mandate to their elected officials, stop catering to the progressive left," McCarthy, R-Calif., said.
He added: "You got thousands of millions of voters who just gave you a very clear message, and where are the Democrats today? Breaking their own rules, setting new records of just keeping votes open, and trying to intimidate and bully members to vote for something. … The vote today is rushed and irresponsible."
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., speaks during an interview as the House considers President Biden's $1.85 trillion-and-growing domestic policy package, at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Nov. 5, 2021. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite / AP Newsroom)
PELOSI PUSHING FOR VOTE ON BIDEN SPENDING PLAN FRIDAY, MODERATE HOLDOUTS LIKELY KEY: LIVE UPDATES
Top Democrats projected confidence late Thursday night that they would be able to jam through their reconciliation spending bill and the infrastructure bill in the same day – legislation amounting to a whopping $3 trillion.
But a handful of moderate Democrats who are demanding scores from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) before voting on reconciliation are holding up any vote. As a side effect of the delay, a motion to adjourn in the House put forward by Republicans was held open for well over four hours, setting a record for the longest roll call vote in House history.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., arrives to lead Democrats in advancing President Biden's $1.85 trillion-and-growing domestic policy package, at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Nov. 5, 2021. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite / AP Newsroom)
"There's a reason why they want to run the bill through without having the Congressional Budget Office tell you how much it costs. There are gimmicks behind this," McCarthy said. "It's even why The New York Times criticizes it as well. It's really interesting. From the New York Times to the Wharton School to the millions of people have voted, you would think, as though that they would wake up, chart a new course."
CBO SCORE ON RECONCILIATION BILL COULD TAKE UNTIL THANKSGIVING AS BIDEN, PELOSI SCRAMBLE FOR VOTES
A CBO score is likely to take weeks to be released, potentially until Thanksgiving. If House Democrats have to wait that long before passing a reconciliation bill, the Senate likely will not get ahold of it until the very end of November or into December.
President Biden addresses the 76th Session of the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 21, 2021, at U.N. headquarters in New York City. Biden said Friday he will be calling lawmakers to lobby for them to vote for Democrats' reconciliation bill immediately. … ((Photo by Timothy A. Clary-Pool/Getty Images) / Getty Images)
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At that point, congressional Democrats will have to deal with a crush of end-of-year deadlines, including the expiration of government funding, military authorization legislation and a potential debt default.
That could sidetrack their agenda into 2022 – an election year when new pressures on members might make it even harder for Democrats to pass their agenda.