House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) signaled Thursday that Democrats won’t let the budget deal struck by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-CA) be voted down, despite their concerns.
“The fact is I don’t think our members will let this bill go down,” she told reporters.
“If it’s a close call for some, as they weigh different things or unease about unemployment insurance — while I don’t like this bill, I think, as I said, much more could have been done to invest and create jobs and the rest, it’s an OK thing to vote for,” she said. “So we’ll see — we’ll see what the Republicans produce and the rest. But I would hope that we could show a good, strong bipartisan vote on the bill.”
The House is expected to vote on the measure on Thursday afternoon.
Pelosi did, however, say Democrats would likely vote against the “rule” — the procedural vote calling for the bill to be brought to the floor — because Republicans aren’t also allowing for a vote on extending emergency unemployment benefits.