Democratic Rep. Luis Gutierrez (Ill.) said Wednesday night that several House Democrats are not supportive of the agreement that Democratic leaders made with President Donald Trump earlier in the afternoon.
Democratic congressional leaders Sen. Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) and Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) announced earlier in the morning that they were "prepared to offer our votes for the Harvey aid package, and a short term debt limit increase of three months," the Washington Free Beacon reported.
They said they were optimistic that their bipartisan support would help Democrats pave a path "forward to ensure prompt delivery of Harvey aid as well as avoiding a default, while both sides work together to address government funding, DREAMers, and health care."
MSNBC host Chris Hayes asked Gutierrez what his reaction was to Democratic leaders threatening to jam Republican efforts in the Senate if the GOP refused to pass legislation protecting the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA. DACA is a 2012 Obama-era program that deferred deportation for young illegal immigrants who traveled to the United States as children. Trump announced his plan to end the program earlier this week.
"The Democratic Caucus is not in sync with making this agreement with the president of the United States of America," Gutierrez said. "I've spoken to dozens of members of the Democratic Caucus and let me just say this, Chris, you know we fought hard and tenaciously to put 800,000 DREAMers in a very safe place."
Gutierrez went on to say that the DREAMers are not happy with the Democratic Party because they should have used their leverage to say,"There is no vote on the debt ceiling. There is no vote on the [continuing resolution] unless we carry with it 800,000 DREAMers and put them in a safe place."
"Why do you not trust that something will develop in the next three months?" Hayes asked.
Gutierrez called Trump a "serial liar" and said Democrats should not be trusting Trump to keep his word on the agreement.
"Remember the Democratic Party has to stand for something," Gutierrez said. "When the CEO of Microsoft says you got to come through him to get to the DREAMers, and he's to the left of the Democratic Party, it's a sad day for the Democratic Party in this nation when the CEO of a multinational corporation is standing firmer with the DREAMers than our own Democratic Caucus."
Microsoft president and chief legal officer Brad Smith responded to Trump's call to end DACA on Tuesday by telling NPR that his company will be lobbying Congress to pass legislation to protect DACA beneficiaries.
"There is nothing that we will be pushing on more strongly for Congress to act on," Smith said. "We put a stake in the ground. We care about a tax reform bill. The entire business community cares about a tax reform. And yet it is very clear today a tax reform bill needs to be set aside until the DREAMers are taken care of. They have a deadline that expires in six months. Tax reform can wait."