‘Schumer Destroyed All Our Leverage’: WaPo Report Reveals Infighting Between House And Senate Democrats On Border Bill

Democrats in the House and Senate are at odds with one another over the passage of a $4.5 billion emergency border funding bill backed by Senate Republicans, a Friday report from The Washington Post revealed. The fact that Senate Democrats went along with the bill “kneecapped the House and marked the most embarrassing defeat for Pelosi in the six months since Democrats took over the chamber,” the report read. “Schumer destroyed all our leverage on Wednesday by not being able to hold his people,” a senior House Democratic aide told the Post. Meanwhile, an anonymous aide on the Senate side said, “They’re blaming everyone but themselves.” The report recounted how Democrats had hoped to pass a more liberal bill that would have “eliminated funding for Immigrations and Customs Enforcement back pay as well as for Defense Department border operations” and “further tightened the administration’s ability to shift money around” in order to force Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for more concessions. However, when it came time to vote on the Senate bill, only six Democrats voted against it. “Pelosi and those in her leadership circle were shocked,” the Post reported. “To them, Schumer had given McConnell a nuclear weapon — the ability to brag that his legislation had overwhelming bipartisan support and should therefore pass the House.” The bill’s passage was no victory for President Trump, as it included no new migrant detention bed funding nor anything for a border wall or immigration enforcement, but it also wasn’t victory for House progressives, who wanted much more...MORE