Pelosi urges House Democrats to continue government shutdown

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) urged House Democrats to vote against the Senate-passed bill that will end the government shutdown architected by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

“We have not yet protected our courageous young DREAMers. Not only should we protect them, we should embrace them, value them, and we should be grateful for the inspiration they are to America,” Pelosi said on the House floor just before a vote on the measure. “I urge a ‘no’ vote and I yield back the balance of my time.”

The bill passed 266-150 Monday evening and will be sent to the president’s desk for signature ending the Democrat-led shutdown of the U.S. government. 44 of 194 House Democrats voted in favor of ending the shutdown.

Pelosi’s plea was purely symbolic as there aren’t enough Democrats in the House to vote down the bill. Instead, the former Speaker was hoping to keep the ire of the extreme left-wing of her party focused on the Senate. Schumer is taking flack from progressive activists and far left Democrats for having ended the shutdown while receiving no concessions from Republicans.

The funding measure keeps the government operating through Feb. 8, reauthorizes the CHIP program for six years and delays some Obamacare taxes.