Yesterday, House lawmakers had to expand the NRA exemption they had created for the DISCLOSE Act in the face of fierce criticism from many of the groups who were not exempted and the lawmakers who support them, and on the other side from lawmakers who found that creating this exemption went against the goal of the legislation: transparency.
The expanded definition would have included groups with memberships over 500,000, down from the previous floor of 1 million. But the expanded exemption so far hasn't been enough to secure enough votes to pass. Pelosi pulled the bill last night.
Pelosi and other Democratic leaders had scheduled a Friday vote on the DISCLOSE Act, a bill requiring special-interest groups to disclose their top donors if they choose to run TV ads or send out mass mailings in the final months of an election. The legislation is designed to roll back the controversial Supreme Court decision in the Citizens United case, which overturned restrictions on corporate campaign activities.
But after complaints from the conservative Blue Dogs and the Congressional Black Caucus, Pelosi was forced to pull the bill on Thursday night....
Pelosi summoned the Blue Dogs and CBC to back-to-back meetings this afternoon, but was unable to overcome their opposition to the legislation. The Blue Dogs are concerned that opposition from the Chamber, National Federation of Independent Business, National Association of Realtors and other business groups will damage their reelection prospects in the fall.
The CBC, on the other hand, was unhappy about an exemption to the bill granted to the National Rifle Association agreed to by Van Hollen. While the exemption was later extended to other groups, the CBC remained concerned about the bill’s potential impact on the NAACP and other progressive groups.
House leadership staff told Politico that they would reschedule the vote for next week, but with Blue Dogs and progressives pitted against each other--and unified Republican opposition--it's hard to see a way forward. The right thing to do would be to yank all exemptions, but the pro-NRA Dem members have already shown they can effectively flex their muscle so it's unlikely they'll go back to the no-exemptions bill. It also faces a difficult road in the Senate, with McConnell threatening a filibuster.