House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., argued Tuesday that House Democrats do not have their own version of the Tea Party rumbling through the left-wing factions of the party after the November election.
The incoming House majority leader pointed to the House Freedom Caucus, a group of roughly three dozen conservatives, and their unwillingness in the past to negotiate with GOP leaders, most notably former Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. He said there is nothing like that facing the House Democrats and the group is largely united.
“We don’t have our own Tea Party now. You’ll see that,” Hoyer told the Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council Conference. “You’ll see that nobody in our caucus now — and I don’t think there’s going to be any significant number now and I don’t think there’s going to be any significant number tomorrow, January being tomorrow, where you’re going to have people say ‘Either my way or no way.'”
“We’ll see if we have anybody like that,” Hoyer said, adding that the party has consensus on many issues, including healthcare and infrastructure. He conceded that trade is a more “divisive issue” in the conference.
“I think you’re going to see a constructive, united Democratic Party. There will be significant debate. There will be differences, but I don’t think you’re going to see a Tea Party,” Hoyer said.
The longtime Maryland congressman’s comments were in response to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who wondered how House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., likely the incoming House speaker, will deal with the “eager beavers” who are entering the conference.
“She’s got her own Tea Party now. It’ll be interesting to see how she manages these eager beavers who come in,” McConnell said Monday night. “We didn’t have a Freedom Caucus in the Senate, so I think we handled it very well, but it was a heck of a challenge for our speakers in the House, and she has something akin to that going on now.”
