Pelosi claims GOP is using ‘black mail’ to demand Title 42 vote

Jessica CustodioMay 16, 2022

WASHINGTON, DC – DECEMBER 15: Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) talks to reporters during her weekly news conference in the U.S. Capitol Visitors Center on December 15, 2021 in Washington, DC.(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

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UPDATED 8:30 AM PT – Monday, May 16, 2022

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) suggested that Republicans are using black mail to demand a vote from Democrats on Title 42. Pelosi made those comments during an interview Sunday and questioned why the measure was in the COVID relief bill.

“There’s no use holding it up to blackmail, as the Republicans are trying to do,” said Pelosi. “We are working on it. We will find a way. It has to be done.”

Senate Republicans blocked the upper chamber from advancing Democrats $10 billion COVID bill after the Biden administration refused to vote on reversing Title 42.

Tons of reminders, all day everyday, why the Biden Admin absolutely must not end Title 42 in a week, which would certainly open the floodgates to even more illegal immigration. https://t.co/vD5JJUf2DC

— Lee Zeldin (@RepLeeZeldin) May 16, 2022

However, an increasing number of Senate Democrats are reportedly becoming more open to holding a vote on the policy. The speaker, however, said, “The fact is now, that we have to either substitute for it, but we must pass the COVID package.”

The US has observed an increase in COVID cases over the past month, though the numbers still remain far lower than previous outbreaks of the virus. That’s according to data from the CDC.