“You avoid the drama. You avoid the pressure that members are going to be under. You avoid splitting our caucus. And you avoid a messy situation before the midterms,” said Natural Resources Chair Ra?l Grijalva (D-Ariz.), in an interview.
Scott Applewhite/AP Photo

“It might not make sense for us to poke the bear. Let’s win the majority back and then do what we can do then,” the senior Black Caucus member said. “I think we are working on reducing the likelihood of tumult.”

Other Democrats, though, argue it’s still critical to show voters the party is supporting law enforcement after years of GOP attacks. “Democrats need to demonstrate we can be pro-law enforcement while being against bad cops, and so I’d like to see us vote on this package,” moderate Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.) said.

Such tension is a reminder that there’s zero guarantee of a drama-free September. With the House slated for just eight more days in session this month, lawmakers face a high-stakes to-do list that includes averting a government shutdown, delivering military aid to Ukraine and resolving a contentious bicameral dispute over Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-W.Va.) energy permitting push.

Democrats are also facing a pile-up of other priorities: Party leaders had already committed to tackling some delayed bills, including that policing and public safety package that openly split the caucus just weeks earlier. There’s keen interest in voting on a measure to ban stock trading for members of Congress.

Some hope to tackle even loftier ambitions, such as the nearly two year-old push to reform the 19th-century Electoral Count Act in the wake of the Capitol riot. Internal caucus discussions remain active on both topics.

“We don’t want to see a dustup over anything,” said Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.), describing the party’s push for unity in its waning days before the election. Summing up Democrats’ main task this month, he quipped: “Just brag about everything we’ve gotten done.”

The most pressing matter for party leaders is government funding — now ominously linked with a summertime accord between Manchin and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to pass a major energy permitting package by the end of September.

A group of House progressives, led by Natural Resources Chair Ra?l Grijalva (D-Ariz.), have taken a hard line against the deal, which they’ve criticized as propping up the fossil fuel industry.

And they’ve threatened they could oppose stopgap government funding if Manchin’s plan is included, though they say they’re intent on negotiating to avoid that outcome. The simpler solution, they say, is to separate the proposal from the must-pass funding bill, which would also avert a humiliating pre-election shutdown.

“You avoid the drama. You avoid the pressure that members are going to be under. You avoid splitting our caucus. And you avoid a messy situation before the midterms,” Grijalva said in an interview. He’d rather see the issue be punted until the lame-duck session: “I think more time to negotiate is a good thing.”

Democratic leaders have worked behind the scenes to mollify some of that angst: Schumer, for instance, has been phoning some House progressives who signed Grijalva’s 70-plus-member letter, including Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.).

Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) speaks to reporters outside of the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 23, 2021 in Washington, D.C.