House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi announced Thursday she will vote against a $1.1 trillion spending package because it includes a policy rider that rolls back a Wall Street financial reform.
The House Thursday afternoon began debating the two-part legislative package, after narrowly voting to advance it despite unanimous opposition from Democrats.
Pelosi, of California, and other liberal Democrats are angered primarily by a provision in the bill that would reverse a ban on some forms of derivatives trading by banks.
Opponents to the provision say it leaves taxpayers exposed to risky trades in a manner that helped lead to the financial meltdown of 2008.
“With this bill, the exposure and the recourse is with the U.S. taxpayer,” Pelosi said. “Just plain wrong.”
As Pelosi delivered her remarks, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., gave a second Senate floor speech in opposition to the derivatives provision.
Warren is demanding lawmakers strip the provision out of the spending bill, but House lawmakers say the language was closely negotiated with Senate Democrats and there are no plans to change it.
