The odds the House Democrats’ proposal of $3 trillion in additional funding for projects deemed to be coronavirus-related unveiled by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) earlier this week ever becomes law are slim to none. Some have speculated Pelosi’s motivations are political, which according to Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL), is the case but it is not necessarily tied to election politics.
During an interview that aired on Huntsville, AL radio’s WVNN on Wednesday, Rogers, the ranking Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee, said Pelosi’s purpose was likely self-preservation.
“This is more about Nancy Pelosi keeping her position than worrying about energizing the base,” Rogers said. “I’m sure the socialist wing of the Democrat conference believes that this is what they have to do to energize their base. But we’re in a global pandemic. We have people out there who are scared to death about how they are going to keep feeding their family if they’re going to get their job back, what the future holds — if they’re going to get sick and die. And she is fooling with kind of silliness. This is nothing but socialist propaganda.”
Rogers questioned the timing of Pelosi’s political gesture, which comes during the coronavirus pandemic.
“For her to bring it to the floor — keep in mind, again I think the socialist members of the Democrat Party, they believe in this stuff, and they believe if we get this out there, the American people will cheer and vote for them in November and try to give them more members in the Senate,” he said. “But you know, Nancy Pelosi has been doing this a long time. She knows that the House is only half of the Congress and the White House has got to sign this bill. And she knows that this is going nowhere.”
“I’m just disappointed as a seasoned veteran legislator who is in the most powerful position in the House that she is allowing herself to be pushed into wasting our time and delaying action for the American people who need help, for this partisan exercise. Very disappointing.”
Rogers also reacted to Republican Mike Garcia’s win in California’s 25th congressional district and Republican State Sen. Tom Tiffany’s win in Wisconsin’s seventh congressional district a night earlier, which he said bodes well for the GOP’s 2020 outlook.
“This was an outstanding sign,” he said. “You know, there have been five open seats before this, and all of them have gone Republican. But this seat in California was held by a Democrat — a young lady who got in trouble and had to resign. This is a seat that Hillary Clinton won big. In fact, the Democrats won it last time — won it by nine points. There are more registered Democrats in the seat than there are registered Republicans. Our candidate won it by a wide margin.”
“Also, the seat up in Wisconsin was not a give-me,” Rogers added. “A Republican was in it before, but it was a swing district. We won that decidedly. These are both great indicators about November. I think as more people see what Nancy Pelosi is doing with the House — not just this silly bill, this socialist piece of legislation — but the things they’ve been trying to advance for the year before this under her speakership, are perfect examples of why they don’t need to be in charge.”
Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor
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