Rep. Charles Rangel’s (D-N.Y.) outspoken skepticism as regards Barack Obama’s Syrian mis-adventure must have set off alarm bells within the administration, prompting them to pressure the rest of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) to shut up and sit down, perhaps until they’re told what to say on the matter, if not how to actually vote.
“I haven’t really felt that America’s security’s being threatened at all,” Rangel told MSNBC Wednesday. “Not even indirectly.”
Now we learn that CBC Chair Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) sent CBC members an email Tuesday asking them “to limit public comment on the issue.” The tactic seems to have worked, according to The Hill, as some key high profile and usually outspoken members of the caucus appear to be content to stay in line … for now.
For that reason, a number of prominent CBC members, including Reps. James Clyburn (D-S.C.), the third-ranking House Democrat, and John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.), the senior Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, have declined to weigh in on Obama’s proposal.
“Issues of war & peace require thoughtful consideration,” Clyburn tweeted Tuesday. “I reserve judgment on Syria until a resolution and more details are forthcoming.”
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