House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi stood on the House floor and spoke for eight hours in protest of a budget deal that didn’t include protections for illegal immigrants, but some on the left criticized her for quite literally being all talk with no action, Vice News reported.
When President Donald Trump announced the end of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, Democrats assured concerned constituents that they would get a deal done to protect the affected immigrants.
“Nancy Pelosi looked me in the face and said, ‘We are going to get this done by the end of the year,’” said Adrian Reyna of United We Dream to Vice News. “We can’t be living our lives on false promises. We don’t have the luxury to do that.”
Central to the criticisms of Pelosi is the fact that while she spent all that time talking about 'Dreamers,' she didn’t spend any time convincing other Democrats to vote against the budget deal, content to allow fellow Democrats to vote as they choose without pressure.
One congressman pointed out that the long speech, while it drew attention, was not among the most effective ways to make a difference.
“There’s all kinds of ways, I assure you, that leadership exercises its influence,” said Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D- Ill.). “The least of which is a floor speech.”
Democrats expressed frustration for Pelosi’s stunt, which she said “achieved the recognition of what Dreamers mean to America.”
Because while she was talking, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) was touting the bipartisan budget agreement in the Senate as having “a great deal of what the American people want."
The impact of Pelosi’s speech was summarized in a tweet by the National Republican Congressional Committee, which said “Dear @NancyPelosi, every minute you’re in front of the cameras, you make our job easier.”
