bringing down the house

Six House staffers arrested outside Schumer's office for protesting climate inaction

Six House staffers employed by progressive Democrats were arrested on Monday after protesting outside the office of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), demanding that he work harder to pass climate legislation.

Earlier this month, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) pulled out of a climate deal that had been crafted to his exact specifications, leaving Democrats without the 50 votes needed to get the legislation through the Senate. Former Obama adviser accused Manchin of having "single-handedly doomed humanity."

Saul Levin, who works for Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) told NBC News that he and his fellow protesters wanted Schumer to "reopen negotiations on a final reconciliation package" and "actually pass climate legislation."

The other five protesters who were reportedly handcuffed and led out by Capitol Police after refusing to leave were Aria Kovalovich and Emma Preston, who work for Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.); Philip Bennett, who works for Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.); Courtney Koelbel, who works for Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.); and Rajiv Sicora, who works for Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.).

New Yorker writer Andrew Marantz, who shared pictures of the arrests as they happened, tweeted that around 17 staffers attended the protest and that, as far as he knew "no internal protest like this has ever happened before within Congress." Marantz claimed that "[e]veryone" involved was arrested, while other outlets reported only 6 arrests.