‘There is No Agreement,’ Dem Lawmaker Says

“Sh**, there is no agreement,” Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) told The Hill, as he left an “emergency closed-door session” called by the House Democratic Caucus to brief members on the reported deal made on an economic stimulus package.

Stupak stomped out of the briefing saying that his leaders couldn’t provide any concrete details that would be included in the final package reached by the House and Senate conferees earlier this afternoon. The three Democratic conferees responsible for brokering the deal, didn’t even attend the briefing.

Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey (D-Wisc.), Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) were upstairs hammering out the details with which most caucus members were concerned.

House Democrats attending the meeting were livid that their leaders handed out polling data instead of an outline of the legislation.

“I came here to know what I didn’t know already,” Stupak said in an interview with The Hill.

Even more upsetting to members was the fact that leaders couldn’t say when the House would vote on the conference report.

–Molly K. Hooper