Politics

Obama jobs bill filed in the House ‘at the request of the president,’ but with no cosponsors

Nicholas Ballasy Senior Video Reporter
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The Daily Caller has learned that Connecticut Democratic Rep. John Larson has introduced President Barack Obama’s jobs plan in the House of Representatives “at the request of the president” and that the bill has no co-sponsors.

Subsequent to The Daily Caller’s earlier reporting on Republican Rep. James Lankford of Oklahoma’s comments about the bill not being filed in the House, a senior Democratic aide told TheDC the legislation was first introduced in the Senate on Sept. 13 by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and in the House on Sept. 21 “at the request of the President.”

Both versions, H.R. 12 and S. 1549 contain the same language and have no co-sponsors.

“Members have not been asked to co-sponsor the bill. Instead, members have asked that the GOP leadership bring it up so we can address the need for job creation in this country,” a senior Democratic aide told TheDC. “We weren’t chasing co-sponsors.”’

House Speaker John Boehner’s office declined to comment on the likelihood of the legislation being considered in the House and directed TheDC to Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s office, which has yet to respond.

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