House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is holding a late night meeting in her office that one member described as "very tense" with "high decibel levels." It started at 7:30 p.m and was still ongoing hours later.
The meeting included high profile members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus -- like Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York -- as well as some members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus who have concerns and questions about the bill, mostly over whether it does enough for humanitarian needs.
Rep. Veronica Escobar, of Texas, said the two caucuses had conference calls about the bill over the weekend, where questions and confusion arose about what exactly was in it. Escobar said that's why she asked leadership to hold the meeting Monday night.
She said she's planning to vote for the bill and downplayed the notion that any changes could be made, saying the House is "running out of time."
Still, multiple members have left the meeting so far with the impression that some changes could be made to the bill.
But according to other members, Pelosi has been making the pitch to address their concerns in separate legislation rather than in the spending bill.
A spirited Ocasio-Cortez entered the meeting frustrated with the "caging of children" and saying she won't vote for any bill that funds existing policies.
"We need to stop funding the detention of children under any and all circumstances," she told reporters.
"I will not fund another dime to allow (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) to continue its manipulative tactics," she later added.
Rep. Tony Cardenas, of California, said it was a matter of making sure people understood the House bill was better than the Senate bill.
"We want to make sure people understand it and not allow perfection to be the enemy of the good."
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