Small band of Democrats holding votes for Nancy Pelosi's speakership bid for ransom
by Naomi Lim
| November 23, 2018 04:34 PM
A handful of House Democrats signaled Friday that they will withhold their support for House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's speakership bid in a pressure effort to convince the California Democrat to agree to a rules reform package that would weaken her control on the lower chamber.
“We will only vote for a speaker candidate who supports ‘break the gridlock’ rules changes,†nine Democrats belonging to the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus said in a statement to the Washington Examiner.
“While we appreciate Leader Pelosi’s broad commitment to our effort, we have yet to receive specific commitments to our proposed rules changes that would help ‘break the gridlock’ and allow for true bipartisan governing in this new era of divided government,†their statement continued, referring to a meeting they had last week with Pelosi. “Without specific changes, we will face more of the same — small pockets of extreme ideologues will continue to block the will of the commonsense majority.â€
The Problem Solvers Caucus is a group of 48 members, 24 from each side of the political aisle. The 36 member-backed "break the gridlock" package includes a suite of 10 proposals that would essentially encourage consensus-building. Chief among the ideas is requiring a supermajority vote for bills brought under "closed" rules, fast-tracking the consideration of legislation co-sponsored by two-thirds of the House, and replacing the "motion to vacate the chair" procedure used by the House Freedom Caucus with a public petition.
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