House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries declined Thursday to outline any specific consequences for two rogue members who joined Republicans on a key procedural vote earlier this week despite a swell of Democrats calling for swift punishment.
Jeffries said at a news conference that he spoke to one of the defectors, Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington, about her vote that advanced a slate of GOP-led bills. She did not inform party leaders ahead of time.
Jeffries described their discussion as “productive” and “forward-looking” and said it addressed how they can move “in a direction that allows the team to continue to communicate with each other in a consistent way, where we can arrive at shared priorities and advance the interests of the American people.”
Jeffries and other Democratic leaders issued a blistering statement after the Tuesday note accusing Gluesenkamp Perez and Rep. Jared Golden of Maine of a “breach of trust” warranted a “serious response.”
While Golden is retiring, Gluesenkamp Perez is seeking reelection in a red-tinged district. Some members have suggested she should lose her spot on the coveted Appropriations Committee over the vote.
Asked about punishments, Jeffries instead cited an ongoing “family discussion about how we all move forward together.”
“All parties involved understand that we’ve got to make sure that we’re communicating aggressively with each other at all times,” he later added.
Jeffries tapped an internal panel in charge of caucus rules to consider sanctions and new requirements to bar House Democrats from joining Republicans on key procedural votes. That panel met Wednesday and made no immediate action.
“We had a meeting. We listened to members yesterday,” Rep. Pete Aguilar of California, the Democratic Caucus chair, said in a Thursday interview when asked what the promised “serious response” would be. “We’ll continue to do that. That’s kind of how we operate.”
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