Schiff meets resistance from left
Californian withdraws Progressive Caucus application after some question timing amid Senate campaign.
WASHINGTON — Rep. Adam B. Schiff’s effort to bolster his progressive credentials in preparation for his statewide bid for outgoing Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s seat has hit some resistance on Capitol Hill.
On Monday, the Burbank Democrat withdrew from consideration to join a coalition of progressives in Congress after his application became divisive among the group’s members.
Schiff has faced questions about his progressive bona fides, considered a must-have these days for any statewide candidate in California.
He applied in January to join House and Senate Democrats’ most liberal group, the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (DWash.), chair of the caucus, said the timing of Schiff’s application — as he begins his campaign for Senate against at least two members of the group, Reps. Katie Porter of Irvine and Barbara Lee of Oakland — became an issue.
“We have two very progressive members who have been in the Progressive Caucus for some time,” Jayapal said, referring to Porter and Lee.
When Schiff was elected to Congress in 2000, he was a member of the Blue Dog Coalition, a group of Democratic centrists. He left the group several years ago.
He is a member of the New Democrat Coalition, which touts economic growth and fiscal responsibility. Several members of Congress are aligned with both the New Democrat Coalition and the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
Jayapal declined to speculate about whether Schiff ’s application — which would have gone before the Progressive Caucus’ executive board and then its full membership — would have been successful.
“It was great that he recognized that [his application] would be a divisive thing to do and he withdrew it, and so I appreciate that,” Jayapal said. “He has a progressive record. His questionnaire was fine. But I think the timing with the Senate race just bring questions around it.”
Lee is a member of the Progressive Caucus’ executive board. Three other Californians in the group’s leadership, Reps. Mark Takano of Riverside, Jared Huffman of San Rafael and Jimmy Gomez of Los Angeles, have endorsed Schiff.
Schiff had been encouraged to join the caucus during the last Congress, “but deferred until the completion of his Jan. 6 committee responsibilities,” said his spokeswoman Lauren French.
“Adam is proud to be a progressive,” French said. “After hearing from his colleagues that some were attempting to make his joining this session political, Adam decided to withdraw from consideration until he joins the U.S. Senate.”
Schiff has been criticized by far-left Democrats for parts of his record, including his opposition to Progressive Caucus budget proposals and his accepting corporate political action committee money in the past. He will not accept corporate PAC dollars for his Senate race, his campaign says.
Lee has consistently had one of the most progressive voting records in the House. The voting records of Porter and Schiff have tracked slightly more closely ideologically, according to GovTrack.us.
In 2019 and 2020, in rankings of 436 House members, Lee was ranked at 436 for having the most liberal voting record. Porter was ranked 359 and Schiff was 367.