Pelosi: 'Five white guys' leading DACA talks should open a 'hamburger stand' Her No. 2, Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, called the Californian's comments 'offensive.'

Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi complained Thursday that immigration negotiations are being led by "five white guys" — and was quickly rebuked by her No. 2, Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, himself one of those white guys involved in the talks.

“The five white guys I call them, you know," Pelosi said at her weekly news conference. "Are they going to open a hamburger stand next or what?” Pelosi said, complaining that minority members of Congress were not involved in deciding the fate of Dreamers.


Pelosi's quip was a reference to the hamburger chain Five Guys and the five white men leading the immigration negotiations. In addition to Hoyer, they include Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas), Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), and White House Chief of Staff John Kelly.

The group of House and Senate leaders held a meeting on immigration earlier this week.

“That could’ve been done four months ago. The very idea that this week they’re saying, ‘Oh why don’t we get four white guys and General Kelly to come and do this,’” she continued. The lack of minority involvement only serves to delay a deal, she argued, since it would need sign-off from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and others.

Her comments prompted an immediate rebuke from Hoyer, the long-time No. 2 House Democratic leader.

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“That comment is offensive. I am committed to ensuring DREAMers are protected and I will welcome everyone to the table who wants to get this done,” Hoyer said to POLITICO in a statement.

The intra-party cross fire comes as Senate negotiators announced they’ve reached a preliminary deal to protect Dreamers. The plan has yet to receive approval from the White House, a key to its success moving forward.

Drew Hammill, Pelosi's spokesman, later said she wasn't criticizing Hoyer or Durbin's participation and has made similar comments during meetings with both this week, without complaints.

“Leader Pelosi has every confidence in the leadership of Whip Hoyer and Senator Durbin, which they have demonstrated on this topic for years," Hammill said. “It’s not a question of who’s there but who’s not there.”

Behind the scenes, House Democratic leaders have been working to soothe tensions within the caucus since a bipartisan immigration meeting with Trump on Tuesday set off a firestorm of controversy.

Most attendees, including all Republicans and Senate Democrats, left the meeting saying they have agreed to pursue a deal that would protect Dreamers, enhance border security, and make changes to family-based immigration and the diversity visa lottery. Those four items were also expected to be the cornerstones of the Senate negotiations.

But House Democrats who attended the meeting, including Hoyer, took pains to separate themselves, saying they hadn’t agreed to negotiate on anything beyond Dreamers and border security. Both Hoyer and Pelosi have been in close touch with the CHC and members of the Congressional Black Caucus since then.

At her Thursday press conference, Pelosi suggested it was almost tone-deaf not to have a minority representative, such as someone from the CHC, involved in the high-level talks earlier this week.

“The sensitivity even on the wording is really important [and] for people who are engaged in these issues to be there at the table. They’ve been working on it in a bipartisan way for a long time,” she said.

The bipartisan group of Senate negotiators, also mostly white men, did recently add Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), a member of the CHC, to its ranks. But several members of the CHC left their weekly meeting Thursday complaining they were still in the dark on the Senate talks.