Pelosi empowered by GOP dissension

As late as Tuesday, Boehner tapped Democrats to help pass a procedural rule for a funding bill for Amtrak that Republicans were threatening to bring down if it did not include a provision that would stop a clean DHS bill from moving forward. But Pelosi pledged Democratic support to move forward — a departure from normal where the minority party always votes against rules brought by the party controlling the floor.

The California Democrat went to her caucus meeting asking members to support the rule, by coming “right to the floor and get up on that board, so that we can end this thing.”

That last-minute move comes after days of Democrats maneuvering to push the House to bring up a clean bill.