Pelosi May Not Vote for Budget Deal

The Hill reports:

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said she feels no ownership for the spending deal the House will consider Thursday.

Pelosi took pains Thursday to distance herself from the bipartisan 2011 spending deal, which many House Democrats think goes too far in imposing spending cuts on health, education and nutrition programs.

“It was pretty evident the House Democrats were not a part of that agreement,” Pelosi said at a press conference in the Capitol. “I feel no ownership of that or any responsibility to it — except that we don't want to shut down the government.”

Pelosi declined to say how she’ll vote on the continuing resolution, which was negotiated last week between House Republicans and Democratic leaders in the Senate and the White House.

The California liberal noted the “unease” many Democrats feel about the roughly $40 billion in cuts included in the proposal, but also left room to support the measure if Republicans can't summon the votes to prevent a government shutdown.

“I have always thought that if he [the House Speaker] didn't have enough votes, if he didn't get 218 on his own, that there would be Democrats who could help put it over the top,” Pelosi said. “It's a question of how big that disparity is.”

“It is very important to keep government open,” she added. “We all support that.”

Still, Pelosi was also quick to emphasize that Democratic leaders in the House have no intention of whipping rank-and-file members on Thursday's vote.

“We have not whipped it, we have not encouraged one way or the other,” Pelosi said. “People are just making their own judgment about it.”