As House Democrats consider trying to force Speaker Mike Johnson‘s (R-LA) hand regarding the Senate‘s foreign aid proposal, the White House is remaining tight-lipped about its outreach strategy as more far-left Democrats voice their concerns about the bill.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), for example, told CNN she is unlikely to support the legislation because of its “complete lack of humanitarian aid,” though it includes $10 billion for that purpose.
“Our Office of [Legislative] Affairs and other White House officials are always in direct contact, continuous contact with congressional members, obviously congressional leadership as well, so I can assure you that we’ve had regular conversations,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told the Washington Examiner on Wednesday. “I’m not going to get into private conversation here with the congresswoman’s concerns. I just don’t have anything to share.”
Democratic votes will be crucial if House Democrats want to rely on a parliamentary procedure known as a discharge petition to bring the foreign aid proposal to the House floor without Johnson.
Meanwhile, the White House is dismissing Johnson’s appeal for a one-on-one meeting with President Joe Biden over the bill and the southern border.
“The president met with, obviously, congressional leadership less than a month ago, just less than a month ago,” Jean-Pierre said. “He made really clear how important it was to get that bipartisan negotiated legislation coming out of the Senate, how important it was to get that, to move that forward.”
It is almost as if Johnson is “negotiating with himself,” Jean-Pierre said, demonstrating her frustration.
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“He first said he needed to see the border security in the deal, in the national security supplemental deal, meaning border security needed to be dealt with first,” the press secretary said.
“We did that,” she added. “The Senate delivered that. The Senate, the president, in a bipartisan way delivered that. Then he doesn’t want it. Then he doesn’t want it in there. Right? And so then, of course, the Senate goes back and takes it out and presented a national security supplemental without the border. Then he’s like, ‘Well, I don’t want that either.’ So what is it? Instead, he decides to choose [former President] Donald Trump.”