Pelosi Insists She Is Not Being Shunned By Super Committee

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) reassured reporters Thursday that she is not being kept out of the loop with a “super committee” that has begun meeting in more frequently in private with a Nov. 23 deadline fast approaching. 

“I don’t believe that I have been cut out of the super committee discussions,” Pelosi said. “The three people that we have sent to the table have my trust and confidence and that of our caucus.”

Pelosi, instead, called on the Republican leadership to provide their members of the super committee the same freedoms liberal members have. 

“I hope that the same discretion and judgement that I have respected my members with is one that is shared by my Republican colleagues,” she said. “I believe that if they have the same freedom, we have a better chance of getting the job done.”

Recent reports have indicated that various proposals aimed at reaching the committee’s goal of cutting the deficit by at least $1.2 trillion have been discussed privately. Though the House’s top Democrat insisted she was not being excluded from the deliberations, she did not stop short of criticizing the manner in which these discussions have taken place. 

“It cannot be a product of secrecy,” Pelosi said. “At some point, the discussion has to be more public.”