A fellow Democrat moved to sanction Illinois Rep. Chuy García Wednesday for a gambit in which he retired and functionally guaranteed that his chief of staff would be the only Democrat on the ballot to succeed him.
Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington went to the House floor as lawmakers prepared to debate legislation reopening the government to introduce a resolution accusing García of “undermining the process of a free and fair election” and calling on the House to disapprove of his behavior.
Gluesenkamp Perez read her resolution aloud in its entirety, which calls García’s maneuver “beneath the dignity of his office and incompatible with the spirit of the Constitution.”
A spokesperson, Fabiola Rodriguez-Ciampoli, said García “made a deeply personal decision based on his health, his wife’s worsening condition and his responsibility to the grandchildren he is raising after the death of his daughter.”
“He followed every rule and every filing requirement laid out by the State of Illinois,” Rodriguez-Ciampoli added. “At a moment like this, he hopes his colleagues, especially those who speak about family values, can show the same compassion and respect that any family would want during a health crisis.”
Other Democrats reacted to the move with confusion and some hand-wringing about her decision to sow party disunity amid a big legislative moment.
“I think there are other ways to handle it, and I don’t think this is the best moment if it’s something you feel compelled to do,” said Rep. Rob Menendez (D-N.J.). “We’re in a messaging battle for all Americans right now.”
A seemingly angry House Minority Whip Katherine Clark was seen making an impassioned case to Gluesenkamp Perez on the floor before she sought recognition and offered her resolution. She then spoke with Perez after she had finished.
Gluesenkamp Perez’s resolution has special standing because it was offered as a “question of privileges of the House” and could see action in the House next week.
In her two terms on Capitol Hill representing one of the most swingy congressional districts in the country, Gluesenkamp Perez has made a name for herself by going against the grain. Earlier this year, she called for the new ethics standards to ensure that lawmakers were able to do their jobs “unimpeded by significant irreversible cognitive impairment.”
Gluesenkamp Perez, in a statement, slammed García’s move as “fundamentally undemocratic.”
“Americans bled and died to secure the right to elect their leaders. We can’t expect to be taken seriously in the fight for free and fair elections if we turn a blind eye to election denial on our side of the aisle,” she said.
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