“Progressive members in our caucus bring an important perspective to the table. I value their input on our strategy,” Bustos said in a statement to POLITICO about partnering with the CPC. “That's why we have already made major early investments in field organizing, voter registration and voting-rights litigation.”

But the temporary truce does not entirely resolve the age-old dispute between the activist and establishment wings of the Democratic caucus: how best to protect incumbents without blocking the path of left-leaning challengers, like Ocasio-Cortez, who are helping to energize the party.

Jayapal, who worked with Pocan behind the scenes for months to protest the DCCC’s policy, said she realizes the so-called “blacklist” rule won’t change this cycle but wants to keep a line of communication open with the committee.

“Hopefully that is something we can get taken care of in the next," Jayapal said of the policy, adding, “all of our dues matter.”

“We also want to make sure that we are doing as much as possible to maintain our House majority and so the key is: Can we get to a place where our members feel like the DCCC is supporting all of us?” Jayapal said.

Withholding dues is not an uncommon practice. Dozens of House Democrats have shirked the duty this year for an array of reasons, such as fundraising prowess, dynamics in their district and members’ own relationships with DCCC. The same pattern has also plagued House Republicans.

The most endangered Democrats, for example, are not required to chip in to the caucus’s fundraising efforts. And certain groups, like senior members of the Congressional Black Caucus, have historically withheld dues because they felt the party organ has neglected them in the past.

More than a third of all Democrats hadn’t paid dues as of December 2019, according to a campaign report obtained by POLITICO. That list included progressives like Pocan, Jayapal and Khanna, some of whom have since contributed to DCCC or say they plan to this year.

Three other prominent liberal Democrats, Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), also did not pay dues as of December. Their staff did not respond to requests for comment about whether they planned to start paying dues.

Donating to the party committee can also be a symbolic gesture, a way for a member to demonstrate their commitment to and gain clout within the House Democratic caucus.

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The spotlight on dues-paying Democrats comes after the DCCC announced last year that it will not contract with or recommend any political vendors that help a candidate primarying any sitting incumbent in the caucus.

The new hiring standards incensed progressives who accused Bustos and her team of kneecapping insurgent candidates following in the footsteps of Ocasio-Cortez and Pressley, who ousted then-Rep. Mike Capuano last cycle.

The committee is a powerful gatekeeper for campaign consultants. It doles out millions of dollars in business for its independent expenditure arm and also connects them with candidates.

In past cycles, the “blacklist” policy operated in as an unwritten, loosely enforced rule. But the codification of what had been general practice had a large impact because of an increase in primary challengers inspired by the 2018 cohort.

Ocasio-Cortez relied on few traditional campaign vendors, but others did. AKPD Message & Media, a prominent Democratic firm that worked for former President Barack Obama, made TV ads for Pressley — and Anzalone Liszt Grove Research, which is working for former Vice President Joe Biden this year, did her polling.

Several of this year’s primary challengers said the negative effects of the policy were swift. Marie Newman, a marketing consultant who is making a second run against Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-Ill.), one of the most conservative House Democrats, lost four consultants within a month of the introduction of the blacklist.

Top progressive leaders have made repeated appeals to Bustos to end the policy, but she has held firm. She has marketed it as a way to protect the moderate majority-makers from liberal challengers who could divert precious resources away from the general election — the types of Democrats who helped elect Bustos as campaign chair last year.

But the policy also benefits members of the Congressional Black and Hispanic caucuses who have seen an uptick in primary challengers — some of whom have earned public endorsements from Democrats like Ocasio-Cortez.

In a briefing with reporters last week, Bustos declined to rule out spending for Democrats in safe seats who have tough primaries. She specifically noted DCCC had met with Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio) to offer advice and campaign staff recommendation. Beatty was outraised in the third-quarter of last year by a Democratic primary challenger, consumer advocate Morgan Harper.

“We offer that to any member of the Democratic House,” Bustos said, calling her committee, “an incumbent friendly organization.”