Tipsheet

Hispanic Caucus: We Rejected GOP Member Because We Use Our Meetings To Strategize Against Trump

Matt Vespa
Matt Vespa  |  December 01, 2017 1:40 PM

Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-FL) was denied membership into the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Is it a shocker? No. It has all-Democratic members, but former Rep. Allen West (R-FL) was able to become a member of the Congressional Black Caucus. Also, Curbelo could have joined the Republican alternative, the Congressional Hispanic Conference. Whatever the reasons, there’s another that we also probably should have known as to why he was rejected: The all-Democratic Congressional Hispanic Caucus says they use their meetings to strategize against Trump (via Business Insider):

The chairwoman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus said they denied membership earlier this month to a Republican congressman because the group has to strategize against President Donald Trump and having a Republican in the group would be counterintuitive.

Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham told reporters on Thursday that the decision to exclude Florida Rep. Carlos Curbelo, a Republican, from the caucus was "because we have strategies about the White House and we have strategies about those committees and we have strategies about who we are working on and leveraging with and that creates an environment where we stop having strategic discussions."

The New Mexico congresswoman noted that end-of-the-year issues like negotiating protections for undocumented immigrants "were all-important issues that the caucus understood" needed certain leverage and that having a Republican in their midst could jeopardize that.

The thing is Curbelo has already voiced his support for any legislation the deals with the issues surrounding the constitutionally questionable Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, something that his spokesperson used to slam Grisham’s remarks. Granted, it’s par for the course for a caucus that’s all Democratic.