House Leaders Meet With Critics of Campaign Finance Bill
House Democratic leaders are trying to quell revolt in their own ranks over a campaign finance measure scheduled to hit the floor Friday.
The eruptions — from members of the Congressional Black Caucus and the Blue Dog Coalition — came after a leadership-authored tweak to the package exempting the National Rifle Association prompted heated protests from an array of business groups and left-leaning nonprofits.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and her team were huddling with the CBC late Thursday afternoon and planned a later sit-down with fiscally conservative Blue Dogs.
The package, called the DISCLOSE Act, would roll back a controversial Supreme Court decision lifting political spending limits by imposing new disclosure requirements on outside groups that sponsor campaign ads and communications. It is a top priority for Pelosi, and leadership aides described her as angry about the latest holdups.
The top House Democrat herself played down the complications at her weekly press briefing, projecting confidence about its prospects. “It’s fundamental to our democracy,” she said. “We will pass it.”