House Democrats opposed to attaching an energy infrastructure permitting measure to the continuing resolution aren’t yet threatening to vote against the must-pass government funding bill. Most hope it won’t come to that.
House Natural Resources Chair Raúl M. Grijalva on Wednesday sent meeting requests to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., to discuss the push to separate the two issues. After gathering signatures from 87 House Democrats, including at least eight fellow committee chairs and eight appropriators who don’t want the permitting bill in the CR, Grijalva is ready to present their case.
“I had not done that because I wasn’t comfortable acting like a single broker on this,” the Arizona Democrat said in an interview. “It’s bigger than myself. There’s other members involved and hundreds of organizations across the country.”
