It may or may not be a coincidence, but on the same day House minority leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announced that she would oppose legislation giving Congress the authority to review President Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran, two of her members from Massachusetts, a bastion of the Democratic party if there ever was one, went on a local public radio station to announce their plan to unseat her.
To be honest, this was not a cause and effect thing. Reps. Michael Capuano and Stephen Lynch wanted Pelosi, 75, gone because the huge electoral losses in 2010 and then in 2012 happened under her watch.
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Lynch said: “Nancy Pelosi will not lead us back into the majority.” When asked by host Jim Braude if believes Pelosi “should go, ” Lynch said, “Right.”
Capuano said: “I think we need leadership that understands that if something that you’re doing is not working, change what you’re doing.” He added that Pelosi should leave her position, “or she should change, one way or the other.”
Senate Democratic minority leader Harry Reid, 75 (you notice a trend?), has already announced he won’t be seeking re-election, which means he will probably be replaced by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to lead the Senate Democrats.
And Dchumer, it just so happens, is big supporter of the bill being proposed by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), to give Congress the power to review—which also means to modify or outright kill—a deal with Iran.
Pelosi says she would vote against such a bill, and if she tries to enforce a uniform vote against it, she might find herself out in the cold with remarkably few friends.
San Francisco, Pelosi’s home district, really is no America when it comes to anti-Israel sentiments.
Pelosi is urging her fellow Democrats to oppose the review proposal, because she wants to allow negotiators the time and space they need to work out the final details before the June 30 deadline.
“Diplomacy has taken us to a framework agreement founded on vigilance and enforcement, and these negotiations must be allowed to proceed unencumbered, ” Pelosi said in a statement.
“Senator Corker’s legislation undermines these international negotiations and represents an unnecessary hurdle to achieving a strong, final agreement.”
Pelosi is not getting much support for her position from the NY delegation. According to The Hill, Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY), chairman of the Democrats’ communications and messaging team, said on Congress must vote on the deal, it’s just too important to be left to the White House alone.
“If President Bush had proposed this deal, I would demand the right to review it and to vote on it. President Obama is proposing this deal, I reserve the right to read it and vote on it, ” Israel said on MSNBC’s Morning Joe. “It shouldn’t matter who the president is, Congress has a constitutional responsibility to weigh in on deals of this magnitude and that’s exactly what we should do.”
