Freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) on Saturday said that small-dollar Democratic donors should stop donating to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and give to swing candidates instead.
Ocasio-Cortez's criticism of the DCCC is in response to Rep. Cheri Bustos (D., Ill.), the new chairwoman of the DCCC, announcing a new policy earlier this month that attempts to protect incumbent Democrats from primary challengers. The new policy bans Democratic consultants from working with primary challengers if they want to continue doing business with DCCC.
Bustos argues that the new policy isn't specifically targeting progressives and that she isn't punishing consultants for their past work with incumbents, but progressives aren't convinced.
"The @DCCC’s new rule to blacklist+boycott anyone who does business w/ primary challengers is extremely divisive & harmful to the party," Ocasio-Cortez tweeted. "My recommendation, if you’re a small-dollar donor: pause your donations to DCCC & give directly to swing candidates instead."
The @DCCC’s new rule to blacklist+boycott anyone who does business w/ primary challengers is extremely divisive & harmful to the party.
My recommendation, if you’re a small-dollar donor: pause your donations to DCCC & give directly to swing candidates instead.
Some great ones:
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 30, 2019
Ocasio-Cortez's legislative assistant, Dan Riffle, who goes by "Every Billionaire Is A Policy Failure" on Twitter, said on Thursday that Progressive Caucus members should stop paying dues to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee over its new policy.
"The simple and obvious solution here is for Progressive Caucus members to stop paying dues to the @DCCC. The DCCC is not an organization that backs any Democrat," Riffle tweeted. "They work to elect a certain kind of Democrat, and if you aren't that kind of Democrat why are you giving them money?"
https://twitter.com/DanRiffle/status/1111331460076789761
Progressive Caucus co-chairs Mark Pocan (D., Wis.) and Pramila Jayapal (D.,Wash), and caucus member Rep. Ro Khanna (D., Calif.) met with Bustos on Wednesday to voice their opposition against the new policy and demanded that it be reversed, but Bustos said she would not change the policy, according to Politico.
While Bustos hasn't showed signs that she will be reversing the policy, Pocan told Politico he believes they are still having an "open conversation" and "there’s more to come" with their conversation.
"Let's be clear. If this policy remains in place, it will mean that we will not allow new Ayanna Pressleys or AOCs to emerge. It's simply wrong," Khanna told the Intercept. "It's also hypocritical for a party that champions strong antitrust. The DCCC is acting as a monopoly by saying that anyone who does business with them can't do business with any competition. It's the classic antitrust violation and an unfair restraint on trade. Many progressives in Congress will fight until this rule is changed. We stand for reform in Congress and reform of the Democratic Party machinery to make sure they prioritize our voters and the grassroots."