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Pelosi: Democrats will not support any disaster relief offset

By Felicia Sonmez

 

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Thursday that Democrats will not support a stopgap funding measure that includes any offsetting of additional disaster relief funds, putting pressure on House Republicans to rework their funding resolution either to include additional money or to make deeper cuts in order to attract conservative support.

“I think I answered that question: There has never been an offset for disaster assistance,” Pelosi told reporters at a Capitol news conference when asked whether there might be any offset that House Democrats would back.

All but six members of the House Democratic caucus voted against Wednesday’s Republican-backed measure, which would have funded the government through Nov. 18 while cutting $1.5 trillion from the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing loan program.

That particular cut was anathema to many Democrats, who argued that the loan program has generated tens of thousands of jobs.

“We shouldn’t even be having this conversation. ... The fact is when natural disaster strikes, the American people are in need,” Pelosi said. “They need to have the confidence that we are there. They don’t need to have the fear that there’s going to be a debate over how this is going to be paid for.””