SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
President-elect Donald J. Trump and U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi smile for a photo during the 58th Presidential Inauguration in Washington, D.C., Jan. 20, 2017. (Photo: U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Marianique Santos/Department of Defense/cc)
Pelosi Frustrates Progressives by Stalling Pro-Labor Bill While Pushing Trump's Trade Deal
"Grinding my teeth so hard they snap off at the roots."
Dec 01, 2019
Progressives on Monday criticized House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for reportedly leaving a broadly popular bill boosting union membership on her desk for months while pushing for the passage of one of President Donald Trump's legislative priorities, the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, by Christmas.
"I don't know exactly what the holdup is," said Rep. Pramila Jayapa (D-Wash.), a co-chair of the House Progressive Caucus, "it is taking longer than it should given the number of co-sponsors that we have."
Pelosi's decision to push the USMCA forward while leaving the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, or PRO Act, on her desk since it passed out of committee on September 25 was the subject of an article by Rachel Cohen at The Intercept Monday morning.
According to Cohen's reporting, the USMCA is seen by moderates as a good example of bipartisan compromise leading up to the 2020 election while labor is antagonistic to the bill:
Centrist Democrats have been insisting privately that a quick passage for the trade deal is necessary for moderate members of Congress to win their competitive reelections in 2020, to show they can "do something." Unions have made clear, though, that from their perspective, USMCA lacks real labor enforcement mechanisms, which could undermine the whole deal, further drag down wages, and eliminate more jobs.
The PRO Act, on the other hand, is a bill with appeal across the party, with 215 House co-sponsors.
"Many other bills have come to the floor with fewer co-sponsors than this one," Jayapal told The Intercept.
Nevertheless, Pelosi is letting the PRO Act sit on her desk, a decision that left journalist Ryan Cooper frustrated.
"Grinding my teeth so hard they snap off at the roots," tweeted Cooper.
It's not the first time Pelosi's leadership of a Democratic-controlled House has led to the shelving of labor-friendly legislation. In 2009, the chamber failed to pass the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), which would have passed through the then-Democratic Senate and ended up on President Barack Obama's desk.
The parallels to this House bill are clear, The District Sentinel cohost Sam Knight said on Twitter.
"In 2009, EFCA was cosponsored by a majority of members when Dem leaders refused to even bring it up for a vote," said Knight. "Pelosi is so utterly devoted to serving her donor class friends."
DSA organizer Margaret McLaughlin did some math to figure out how she felt about implications of Cohen's reporting.
"Handing Trump a USMCA win without any strong labor enforcement mechanisms + not passing the PRO act which would sail through the House = gonna give me an aneurysm," said McLaughlin.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Progressives on Monday criticized House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for reportedly leaving a broadly popular bill boosting union membership on her desk for months while pushing for the passage of one of President Donald Trump's legislative priorities, the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, by Christmas.
"I don't know exactly what the holdup is," said Rep. Pramila Jayapa (D-Wash.), a co-chair of the House Progressive Caucus, "it is taking longer than it should given the number of co-sponsors that we have."
Pelosi's decision to push the USMCA forward while leaving the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, or PRO Act, on her desk since it passed out of committee on September 25 was the subject of an article by Rachel Cohen at The Intercept Monday morning.
According to Cohen's reporting, the USMCA is seen by moderates as a good example of bipartisan compromise leading up to the 2020 election while labor is antagonistic to the bill:
Centrist Democrats have been insisting privately that a quick passage for the trade deal is necessary for moderate members of Congress to win their competitive reelections in 2020, to show they can "do something." Unions have made clear, though, that from their perspective, USMCA lacks real labor enforcement mechanisms, which could undermine the whole deal, further drag down wages, and eliminate more jobs.
The PRO Act, on the other hand, is a bill with appeal across the party, with 215 House co-sponsors.
"Many other bills have come to the floor with fewer co-sponsors than this one," Jayapal told The Intercept.
Nevertheless, Pelosi is letting the PRO Act sit on her desk, a decision that left journalist Ryan Cooper frustrated.
"Grinding my teeth so hard they snap off at the roots," tweeted Cooper.
It's not the first time Pelosi's leadership of a Democratic-controlled House has led to the shelving of labor-friendly legislation. In 2009, the chamber failed to pass the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), which would have passed through the then-Democratic Senate and ended up on President Barack Obama's desk.
The parallels to this House bill are clear, The District Sentinel cohost Sam Knight said on Twitter.
"In 2009, EFCA was cosponsored by a majority of members when Dem leaders refused to even bring it up for a vote," said Knight. "Pelosi is so utterly devoted to serving her donor class friends."
DSA organizer Margaret McLaughlin did some math to figure out how she felt about implications of Cohen's reporting.
"Handing Trump a USMCA win without any strong labor enforcement mechanisms + not passing the PRO act which would sail through the House = gonna give me an aneurysm," said McLaughlin.
Progressives on Monday criticized House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for reportedly leaving a broadly popular bill boosting union membership on her desk for months while pushing for the passage of one of President Donald Trump's legislative priorities, the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, by Christmas.
"I don't know exactly what the holdup is," said Rep. Pramila Jayapa (D-Wash.), a co-chair of the House Progressive Caucus, "it is taking longer than it should given the number of co-sponsors that we have."
Pelosi's decision to push the USMCA forward while leaving the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, or PRO Act, on her desk since it passed out of committee on September 25 was the subject of an article by Rachel Cohen at The Intercept Monday morning.
According to Cohen's reporting, the USMCA is seen by moderates as a good example of bipartisan compromise leading up to the 2020 election while labor is antagonistic to the bill:
Centrist Democrats have been insisting privately that a quick passage for the trade deal is necessary for moderate members of Congress to win their competitive reelections in 2020, to show they can "do something." Unions have made clear, though, that from their perspective, USMCA lacks real labor enforcement mechanisms, which could undermine the whole deal, further drag down wages, and eliminate more jobs.
The PRO Act, on the other hand, is a bill with appeal across the party, with 215 House co-sponsors.
"Many other bills have come to the floor with fewer co-sponsors than this one," Jayapal told The Intercept.
Nevertheless, Pelosi is letting the PRO Act sit on her desk, a decision that left journalist Ryan Cooper frustrated.
"Grinding my teeth so hard they snap off at the roots," tweeted Cooper.
It's not the first time Pelosi's leadership of a Democratic-controlled House has led to the shelving of labor-friendly legislation. In 2009, the chamber failed to pass the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), which would have passed through the then-Democratic Senate and ended up on President Barack Obama's desk.
The parallels to this House bill are clear, The District Sentinel cohost Sam Knight said on Twitter.
"In 2009, EFCA was cosponsored by a majority of members when Dem leaders refused to even bring it up for a vote," said Knight. "Pelosi is so utterly devoted to serving her donor class friends."
DSA organizer Margaret McLaughlin did some math to figure out how she felt about implications of Cohen's reporting.
"Handing Trump a USMCA win without any strong labor enforcement mechanisms + not passing the PRO act which would sail through the House = gonna give me an aneurysm," said McLaughlin.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.