House Democrats Cancel Budget Vote Due To Divided Party

Democrats in the House of Representatives canceled a scheduled vote on a two-year budget bill Tuesday as the more moderate members of the party are clashing with the progressive members.

Many member of The Congressional Progressive Caucus pushed back against the budget bill, saying the bill is too focused on funding for the Pentagon than funding for domestic programs, according to Politico. More moderate members in the Blue Dog Coalition also are coming out against the bill, but for different reasons, saying the bill is too expensive.

Now Democrats are likely to cancel the vote for the bill, unless they can come to an agreement in their leadership meeting Tuesday night. The canceled vote would be a bad sign for Speaker of The House Nancy Pelosi, as it would show her party is not united under her leadership.

According to The Washington Post, Wisconsin Democratic Rep. Mark Pocan, a c0-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, told leadership staffers in the House they do not have the votes to pass the legislation, saying, “There is a math problem, period, if they want to do the vote tomorrow.”

“We’ve got to have something here if we’re expected to try to vote for a (defense) number that is so ridiculously high, while at the same time, we have the kind of inequality that we have in the country,” Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal said.

House Budget Committee Chairman John Yarmuth said he believes this will “harmful” to his party, saying it “minimizes our leverage in negotiations with Senate and the White House.”

There are reportedly 22 progressive Democrats who will not support the bill unless it includes billions of dollars for domestic funding.