Nancy Pelosi Tells Europe She Has Equal Power; Trump is Not in Charge
House speaker and Democratic lawmakers convince Brussels president's not in charge
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Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has told European leaders in Brussels that she has equal powers to President Donald Trump, according to reports.
Pelosi and a delegation of U.S. lawmakers were in Brussels to convince European heads they had control amid the uncertainty around transatlantic relations.
Pelosi claimed that the U.S. president is not all-powerful in the meetings in Europe.
The House speaker used her recent standoff over the government shutdown as some sort of 'evidence' that she had power over the president.
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"We're not a parliamentary government even though we're parliamentarians," Pelosi said at a news conference.
"We have Article 1, the legislative branch, the first branch of government, co-equal to the other branches and we have asserted ourselves in that way."
When one European colleague asked why the House of Representatives had only recently approved a resolution in support of NATO, Pelosi claimed it was because she had just taken control of the majority this year.
"I think it's a reminder tour that the United States government is not just one branch." — US Rep. Gerry Connolly
"I said because we just got the majority and then we can control, we can manage what goes on to the floor," Pelosi said.
"But once the Republican colleagues had the opportunity to vote on this, H.R. 676 NATO Support Act — what was it? 357 to 22 Noes. I think that that sends a very clear message."
Pelosi continued, "I don't think that there's any difference between Democrats and Republicans on our relationship with NATO. This is not partisan in any way."
"In terms of the question — is this a reassurance tour? I think it's a reminder tour," Connolly said.
"that the United States government is not just one branch. And as the Speaker said, Article 1, the first Article in the constitution of the United States deals with the powers of the legislative branch, not the executive branch and those powers include war and peace and even direction of the armed forces."
Pelosi responded by adding "and the power of the purse."
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According to reports from Breitbart in January, Pelosi said she believed the constitution see her as equal to President Donald Trump.
The New York Times reported: “Asked if she considers herself Mr. Trump’s equal, she replied, ‘The Constitution does.'”
But the context of her comments surrounding debate on the equality of women — but her reference to the Constitution suggested she was also making an argument about actual power as a matter of law.
In her inaugural speech to the House of Representatives in January, Pelosi echoed a similar theme, calling Congress “co-equal” to the presidency:
Our nation is at an historic moment. Two months ago, the American people spoke, and demanded a new dawn.
They called upon the beauty of our Constitution: our system of checks and balances that protects our democracy, remembering that the legislative branch is Article I: the first branch of government, co-equal to the president and judiciary.
Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. geared up attacks on President Donald Trump following his national emergency declaration to fulfill his promise of building the southern border wall.
The President is allocating $8 billion from multiple federal agencies to fund the US Southern Border wall.
But Pelosi and Schumer both promised to use adopt "every remedy available" through the courts or Congress, to stop Trump using his emergency declaration to bypass Congress.
