First Punches Thrown in Dems’ Intraparty Fight Over Jefferson

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Democratic leaders took the first step in ejecting Jefferson from a choice committee seat last night, and Congressional Black Caucus members have responded with more threats of a battle.

The CBC believes that a congressman has a right to keep $90,000 cash in his freezer, and if you have a problem with it, well just keep it to yourself — at least until the indictment comes down. So if the leadership wants Jefferson gone from the Ways and Means committee, it’s gonna be ugly. “It’s about to blow up in their face,” says the CBC’s chair.

Jefferson’s rolling up his sleeves and getting ready to box, too. His spokeswoman says: “this is not a take-one-for-the-team situation…. It’s a fight if that’s what it becomes.”

The CBC aside, Democrats are in general agreement on booting Jefferson from the Ways and Means panel. Still, the caucus argues that normally reps aren’t removed from committee seats until they’re indicted. So even though Jefferson’s indictment seems pretty much inevitable (even to Jefferson), they want to hold off until then.

The rest of the party isn’t listening, though. Last night the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee, a group of 50 Democrats, voted to remove Jefferson from the Ways and Means post. And they’ve tried to force the next step, a vote before the full House Democratic Caucus. But the chairman of the CBC, Rep. Mel Watt (D-NC), invoked a rule requiring five days’ notice of a caucus meeting.

So now the formal process is stalled until Thursday. Between now and then, the CBC has their chance to stage their revolt. And the vote will provide them with a stage to air their grievances.

And as a bonus, the GOP might try to get in on the action: according to Roll Call, “some Democrats are suspicious that Republicans might look for a way to play tricks with a floor debate on Jefferson in an effort to score political points.”

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