House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and other top Democrats erupted after two members of their caucus crossed the aisle and rescued a major Republican procedural vote that appeared headed for defeat. Reps. Jared Golden (D-ME) and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA) supplied the decisive votes needed to advance several Republican-backed measures. Their decision caught Democratic leaders by surprise and immediately prompted threats of internal consequences. Jeffries called the move a “significant breach of trust” requiring a “serious response.”
The controversy began Tuesday when Republican leaders brought forward a procedural rule establishing the terms for debate on several pieces of legislation. Such votes are normally decided almost entirely along party lines because supporting the rule allows the majority party to move its agenda through the House. Democrats prepared to oppose it unanimously, while several Republican holdouts threatened to defeat it amid a separate dispute over a short-term government funding bill.
With the rule on the verge of failing, Golden and Gluesenkamp Perez joined Republicans and helped it pass by a razor-thin 210-208 margin. Their votes allowed the House to proceed with a resolution condemning socialism and supporting the SAVE America Act, along with other measures covered by the rule. The defections were especially damaging for Democratic leaders because the party had expected complete unity during the procedural fight.
Jeffries responded in a joint statement with House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-MA) and Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar (D-CA). The leaders accused Golden and Gluesenkamp Perez of blindsiding their colleagues and said they had directed the Committee on Caucus Rules to review the matter. As CBS News reported, the statement warned that their conduct “necessitates a serious response,” although leadership didn’t immediately specify what punishment might follow.
The legislation advanced by the vote included House Resolution 1490, which denounced socialism “in all its forms” while reaffirming support for the SAVE America Act. The election legislation requires proof of citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections and photo identification when casting a ballot. The House Administration Committee described those two provisions as the central components of the Republican-backed measure.
Watch the vote happen here:
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Jeffries had announced before the vote that he opposed the resolution because it endorsed the SAVE America Act. He attacked the election-security proposal as “toxic voter suppression legislation” and claimed Republicans were prioritizing it over the cost-of-living concerns facing American families. Aguilar similarly argued that Republicans had attached the SAVE America Act language to transform a vote condemning socialism into a broader partisan fight over election law.
Republicans said the two subjects were directly connected. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) pointed to the Democratic Socialists of America’s political agenda and argued that Congress should reject both socialism and noncitizen voting. GOP leaders scheduled the vote after several candidates aligned with the socialist movement won Democratic primaries, including Darializa Avila Chevalier in New York and Melat Kiros in Colorado.
The procedural victory forced House Democrats to take a recorded position on the resolution itself. It eventually passed 220-192, with two members voting present. Every Republican supported the resolution, while eight Democrats broke with most of their party and voted to condemn socialism and support the SAVE America Act.
Those eight Democrats were Kathy Castor of Florida, Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez of Texas, Don Davis of North Carolina, Jared Golden of Maine, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington, Darren Soto of Florida, and Gabe Vasquez of New Mexico. Reps. Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania and Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire voted present, while Jeffries and 191 other Democrats voted against the resolution.
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video.