R

ep. Adam Schiff’s attempt to bolster his progressive credentials in preparation for his statewide bid for Senator Dianne Feinstein’s U.S. Senate seat met with some resistance on Capitol Hill.

on Monday,

the Burbank Democrat ship

withdrew

herself

considered joining the House progressive caucus after his application divided group members.

Schiff has faced questions about his progressive bonafide, a must-have these days for any California state candidate.

He applied in January to join the most liberal group of House Democrats, the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), president of the CPC, said the timing of the filing as he begins his Senate campaign against two other members of the group, Reps. Irvine’s Katie Porter and Oakland’s Barbara Lee became a problem.

We have two very progressive members who have been in the progressive caucus for a while, Jayapal said, referring to Porter and Lee.

When Schiff was elected to Congress, he was a member of the Blue Dog Coalition, a group of Democratic centrists. He left the group several years ago.

He is a member of the New Democrat Coalition, which promotes economic growth and fiscal responsibility. Several members of Congress are affiliated with both the New Democrat Coalition and the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

Jayapal declined to speculate on whether the application submitted before the CPC board of directors and then for full membership would have been successful.

It was great that he recognized that [his application] would be divisive and he pulled it back, so I appreciate that, Jayapal said. He has a progressive record. His questionnaire was fine. But I think the timing of the Senate race only raises questions.

Lee is a member of the board of directors of the CPC. Three other Californians in the leadership of the group, Reps. Mark Takano of Riverside, Jared Huffman of San Rafael and Jimmy Gomez of Los Angeles have endorsed Schiff.

Schiff was encouraged to join the group at the last convention “but deferred it until the completion of his committee responsibilities on Jan. 6,” his spokeswoman Lauren French said.

“Adam prides itself on being progressive,” said French. “After hearing from his colleagues that some were trying to politicalize his participation in this session, Adam decided to withdraw from consideration until he enters the U.S. Senate.”

Schiff has been criticized by far-left Democrats for his record, including his opposition to progressive caucus budgets and previously accepting PAC money from corporations.

His senate race He

does not accept corporate PAC dollars

for his Senate race

says his campaign.

Lee has consistently had one of the most progressive voting records in the House.

Porter and Schiff’s voting data has been tracked a little more closely

according to

ideological,

according to voice data analyzed by

GovTrack.us.

In 2019 and 2020, in a ranking of 436 members sitting in the House ranked 436th with the most liberal voting record, Porter was ranked 359th and Schiff was ranked 367th. Lee was the most liberal on the 436th.