House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi made history this week with her 8 hour, 7 minute filibuster demanding a debate on DACA. Social media users appreciated her effort, starting the trend #GoNancyGo. She then voted "no" on the congressional budget deal that ultimately passed and ended the brief government shutdown Friday.
We have "always expected" that the budget bill would address DACA, Pelosi said, explaining her rejection of the deal.
Where was this urgency when she was Speaker of the House? Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) wondered.
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“If Minority Leader Pelosi was that serious about it, she would’ve handled this more directly when she was speaker of the House,” Scalise told reporters on Capitol Hill Thursday.
The Democrats never brought a bill to the floor before losing the majority, he added.
Fox News contributor and Democratic pollster Doug Schoen pushed back at Scalise's narrative, noting the "Gang of Eight" effort in 2013 when a bipartisan group of senators sought a solution on immigration reform. While their bill passed the Senate, it stalled in the House.
Pelosi felt the wrath of pro-DACA protesters last year for being all talk, no action. It became a huge PR issue when they booed her off stage and called her a "liar."
It turns out some of her own colleagues were unimpressed by Pelosi and her filibuster stunt. Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (D-IL) told the press that a House speech is probably the worst way for Democratic leadership to try and solve the DACA issue.
“There’s all kinds of ways, I assure you, that leadership exercises its influence — the least of which is a floor speech,” Gutiérrez said.
Congress passed the $400 billion budget deal eight hours after missing a government shutdown deadline, with President Trump's prompt signature. House Speaker Paul Ryan assured his colleagues on both sides of the aisle that a debate on DACA is next on the list.