A pair of House Democrats voted to rescue the Republican legislative agenda Tuesday as GOP leaders faced an internal revolt, an extremely rare crossing of party lines that pushed a key procedural vote through a closely divided chamber.
Democratic Reps. Jared Golden of Maine and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington voted with most Republicans to set up debate on a series of GOP-led bills, including a resolution condemning socialism that party leaders want to use to hammer Democrats on the campaign trail.
The two Democrats were decisive in the 210-208 vote, where five Republicans had broken ranks over frustrations with how party leaders had handled an earlier vote on government spending.
Neither Golden nor Gluesenkamp Perez gave immediate comment on their votes. Both are members of the moderate Blue Dog Democrats, and Golden is not seeking reelection in November.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters he “didn’t get a heads up” from the two Democrats, and Majority Whip Tom Emmer also suggested he was caught by surprise.
“I don’t count Democratic votes,” he said.
While House members routinely cross party lines on legislation, it is almost unheard for minority members to break ranks and vote for the “rules” the majority uses to set the floor agenda.
Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, the longtime former Democratic speaker, expressed astonishment in an interview.
“I, as speaker, never — we didn’t even consider that anybody would do that,” she said. “We never had that problem, so I’m disappointed that they did that.”
Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, the top Democrat on the Rules Committee, said he believed Golden backed the measure because it provided for passage of a bill benefiting lobstermen in his home state. The bill in question delays the implementation of fishing regulations meant to protect the right whale population.
The GOP holdouts were upset over a variety of issues linked to the spending bill, including the inclusion of a delay on a ban on sales of some hemp products and the manner in which Republican leaders put the funding bill on the floor. That bill, which had White House backing, passed earlier Tuesday in a 370-48 vote.
Had the procedural vote failed, Speaker Mike Johnson would have faced immediate pressure to cut the House session short and send members home ahead of next week’s GOP midterm convention in Dallas. With the government now funded through the midterms and no other pressing deadlines to meet before November, GOP leaders could still scrap some or all of the remaining September session weeks to allow members to campaign in their districts.
Johnson did not address the Democratic assistance he received after the vote Tuesday.
“Many of you thought that would not happen today, but we passed a rule to continue business this week,” he told reporters. “Republicans are here to work. We have a lot more left to do.”
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