House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., speculated Thursday the reason Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., now says he won’t support funding for border wall projects is because it could weaken Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s, D-Calif., support of incoming progressive Democrats and her shot at the speakership.
McCarthy told Fox News if Schumer decided to support a bill that included up to $5 billion for border security, it could upset incoming lawmakers in the House and prompt them not to back Pelosi on Jan. 3.
“One of the real concerns of why he has changed his position is it comes to Nancy Pelosi’s vote for speaker,” said McCarthy.
“She has a very tight vote going through. Chuck is afraid that if he does something about — doing something with border security that would upset those new freshman Democrats that are more socialist coming in,” he said.
Pelosi in mid-November told Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., who is expected to start as co-chairwoman of the growing House Progressive Caucus next month, she would give them more seats in committees and greater say on legislation. Pelosi needs the group’s votes to be elected the top House lawmaker.
The progressive group said in late November, as Trump called for border security money to be included in a 2019 budget, that it opposed any funding for the wall or related projects.
“Congress cannot continue to stand by while President Trump relentlessly attacks immigrant communities. As negotiations continue over the FY19 DHS spending bill, we urge House and Senate Democratic leadership to hold strong in providing zero funding for Trump’s ill-conceived border wall, reducing funding for detention beds, and curbing inhumane border and interior enforcement,” the caucus said in a statement.
Three days prior to the caucus’s statement, Schumer had said his party would support up to $1.6 billion for border projects.
