A meeting between Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chair Cheri Bustos and progressive members became heated Wednesday. | Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images politics Progressives clash with DCCC leader in closed-door meeting

Leaders of the Congressional Progressive Caucus clashed Wednesday with the head of Democratic campaign arm over a new policy that they say hurts primary challengers nationwide — but which campaign officials have no plans to drop.

A meeting between Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chair Cheri Bustos and progressive members became heated as Bustos' liberal colleagues pressed her to reverse course on a just-announced rule barring Democratic consultants from working with primary challengers if they want to have business with the national campaign arm.


Progressive Caucus co-chairs Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) and Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash), and caucus member Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), requested the meeting with Bustos to explain why the new policy issued to consultants last week created a "monopoly" of DCCC-sanctioned vendors, and would "blackball" too many talented vendors and consultants.

But Bustos made clear that she would not change the policy, which she argues is crucial to protecting Democratic incumbents after last fall’s huge gains in the House.

Progressives erupted this week after DCCC announced the policy change aimed at deterring primary challengers. Critics see it as an attempt to suppress groups like Justice Democrats, which helped elect Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.) and Ayanna Pressley (Mass.), both of whom knocked out longtime Democratic incumbents.

“Pramila Jayapal, Mark Pocan, and I met with Cheri Bustos to make it clear that we strongly oppose her new policy that stifles competition and blackballs any consultant who works for a challenger," Khanna told POLITICO.

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"Many progressives in Congress will fight until this rule is changed," Khanna added.

When a reporter asked Bustos about the meeting on Wednesday, two of her aides stepped in to block her from answering questions.

A DCCC spokesman later said that Democratic lawmakers picked Bustos to lead the campaign operation, in part, because she vowed to protect incumbents from primary challengers.

“This transparent policy follows through on that exact promise and will protect all members of the Democratic Caucus — regardless of where they fall within our big tent,” DCCC spokesman Cole Leiter said in a statement.

In the meeting, Bustos argued that the policy wasn’t aimed at progressives, and that it wasn’t designed to punish campaign operates for their work in past years, according to a person familiar with the discussion.

Bustos has no plans to reconsider the policy, though progressive leaders insist the debate isn’t over.

“I still think it’s an open conversation," Pocan told POLITICO after the meeting. "I don’t think it’s done. I left it thinking there’s more to come.”

The Democratic campaign arm unveiled the rule on Friday, triggering a backlash from liberal groups, including Justice Democrats and Indivisible.

Ocasio-Cortez told reporters this week that the policy should be reversed, arguing that it puts under-funded upstart candidates at a disadvantage — people like herself last year.

“Primaries are often the only way that under-represented and working class people are able to have a shot at pursuing elected office,” Ocasio-Cortez told reporters Wednesday. She added that several longtime New York City members, like Reps. Eliot Engel and Nydia Velazquez, got their start as primary challengers.

“I think that it can reduce the odds of us getting really strong representation. We need to have kind of a farm system for the next generation,” she said.

Khanna, who was the most vocal in the meeting, said he also told Bustos that previous DCCC leaders never officially implemented “such a heavy-handed policy.”

“Ben Ray Lujan in particular had a much kinder and more inclusive approach,” Khanna said, referring to Bustos' predecessor in the role.

But the DCCC was heavily criticized by members on the opposite end of the party last cycle for not doing enough to defend certain incumbents, particularly Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-Ill.), who faced a competitive race for his Chicago-area seat.

Lipinski, considered one of the most conservative members of the caucus because of his views on abortion and LGBTQ issues, represents a district that continues to trend more progressive.

As DCCC chairman, Luján notably declined to endorse Lipinski against his progressive primary challenger, Marie Newman, despite being urged by other moderate Democrats to do so. In addition, Rep. Jan Schakowsky, then a member of DCCC leadership, broke ranks and endorsed Newman, angering many of her colleagues.

Moderate members were enraged and later floated a change to caucus rules late last year that would prevent any member in DCCC leadership from backing a primary opponent. The amendment never received a vote.