The House spending bill could lose Democrat support if it includes "destructive riders" added by Republicans, says House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.
"We haven't seen the bill, but if there are some very destructive riders in it, that would be unacceptable to us," Pelosi said Friday during her weekly press briefing.
Specifically, the California Democrat cited Republican-proposed additions that she said would lower standards for school lunches, clean water, and workplace safety.
She said that such proposals are "earmarks for industry."
"Whatever you think of them, they have no place on an appropriations bill," she added.
Pelosi contends that the reason Republicans are trying to add such measures to an appropriations bill is "because they can't take the light of day."
"We're eager to see what the bill will be, we look forward to finding common ground," Pelosi said.
However, she did say that she's not calling "any one of them" a deal-breaker, "but I'm saying these are an array of concerns that we have."
"It's really important that the Republicans not be frivolous once again about shutting down the government," she added.
According to Politico, Pelosi said in a closed meeting Thursday that it was important that Democrats "stay together" when it comes to whether or not they will
support the proposal by Republicans.
Congress has until Dec. 11 to pass an appropriations bill to keep the government funded until September 2015. The vote on the measure is expected next week, as appropriations leaders in the House and Senate are working on the legislation.
House Speaker John Boehner said that he has a two-step strategy to prevent conservatives in the party from seeing the appropriations bill as an opportunity to protest President Barack Obama's
executive orders, saying it will be better to address such things in 2015 "when we have reinforcements in the Senate."
Part of Boehner's plan is to only fund the Department of Homeland Security through March 2015, which will allow Republicans to tackle immigration then.
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