After Threatening Retribution, Jeffries Welcomes Rogue Democratic Member Who Sided With Republicans Back Into the Fold

After promising to punish two of his Democratic colleagues, the House minority leader, Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, is welcoming a rogue Democratic lawmaker back into the fold after she sided with Republicans on a key procedural vote. On Tuesday, Mr. Jeffries and other members of his leadership team decried the “significant breach of trust” that occurred when the two Democrats voted to open the House floor, saving Speaker Mike Johnson’s legislative calendar for the week. In order for the House to conduct business, lawmakers must first adopt what is known as a “rule” — a procedural vehicle for legislation that governs the debate schedule and amendment process for certain legislation. If the House cannot adopt a rule by a simple majority vote, then it becomes nearly impossible for the chamber to get anything done. Democrats never go along with Republican rule votes, and vice versa when the Democrats are in charge. That is because the majority party always restricts amendment opportunities for the minority party. On Tuesday, however, two Democrats — Congressman Jared Golden and Congresswoman Marie Gluesenkamp Perez — voted to adopt Mr. Johnson’s rule, much to the surprise of House Democratic leadership. Mr. Golden voted for the rule because his bill to protect Maine lobstermen in his district was set to come up for a vote under this week’s rule. Ms. Gluesenkamp Perez, who, like Mr. Golden is a member of the centrist Blue Dog Coalition, voted with Mr. Golden to help salvage the bill. The two have been friends for years. Had either one of them voted against the rule, it would have failed, as five Republican members had voted no on the procedural motion. Shortly after the vote, Mr. Jeffries and his two top deputies — Congresswoman Katherine Clark and Congressman Pete Aguilar — put out a statement harshly condemning their colleagues and promising retribution. “The decision by two of our colleagues to blindside the entire House Democratic Caucus and join with the Republican majority to pass a procedural rule on the brink of failing represents a significant breach of trust,” the three Democratic leaders said in a joint statement Tuesday night. “It is an action that necessitates a serious response, and we have asked the Committee on Caucus Rules to take this up in short order.”Democrats had considered removing Mr. Golden and Ms. Gluesenkamp Perez from some or all of their committee assignments. Mr. Golden was less of a focus, given he is retiring at the end of this year, but Ms. Gluesenkamp Perez sits on the powerful House Appropriations Committee — a plum position that no lawmaker would be happy to give up. By Thursday morning, though, Mr. Jeffries implied that the sins of Ms. Gluesenkamp Perez — who serves in a Trump-won district — had been forgiven. He told reporters at the Capitol that Ms. Gluesenkamp Perez smoothed things over with another senior Democratic member of the House. “Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, of course, is an important member of the House Democratic Caucus fighting hard for the people that she represents in Washington and a leader of the Blue Dogs,” Mr. Jeffries said. “And we value every single member in our caucus — progressives, the New Dems and Blue Dogs — and we’re going to move forward together, in unity, in order to solve problems for the American people.”Mr. Jeffries said that Ms. Gluesenkamp Perez had had a conversation with Congressman Jim McGovern, a progressive Massachusetts Democrat who serves as the ranking member of the Rules Committee, which writes the procedural motions that govern the House floor. Mr. McGovern was especially angry at Ms. Gluesenkamp Perez and Mr. Golden after they caught the Democratic Caucus off guard with their votes. “To be honest with you, I didn’t even get the courtesy of even a heads up that she was going to vote [for] the rule,” Mr. McGovern told the Washington Examiner on Wednesday, saying he was “a little pissed” at his colleagues. His comments came after he turned his back on Ms. Gluesenkamp Perez as she was testifying before the Rules Committee on Wednesday. Mr. McGovern later told the Examiner that he intentionally turned away from her in a small act of protest.

After Threatening Retribution, Jeffries Welcomes Rogue Democratic Member Who Sided With Republicans Back Into the Fold

After Threatening Retribution, Jeffries Welcomes Rogue Democratic Member Who Sided With Republicans Back Into the Fold

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