Democrats take "unprecedented" step to save GOP's foreign aid bills
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House Rules Committee top Democrat Jim McGovern. Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images.
House Democrats made an extremely rare break with modern political norms on Thursday to rescue House Speaker Mike Johnson's (R-La.) foreign aid package.
Why it matters: It's the starkest evidence to date that the GOP's fractured and tiny House majority has effectively yielded to something resembling a bipartisan coalition.
What happened: The four Democrats on the House Rules Committee voted with five of the panel's establishment Republicans to advance the package of four bills to votes on the House floor.
- The crossover was needed after three right-wing hardliners on the panel — Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) and Chip Roy (R-Texas) — voted against sending it to the floor.
- The right-wing rebellion was enough to kill the package if Democrats did not step in.
Zoom in: The Rules Committee typically consists of leadership loyalists who dutifully vote along party lines on advancing legislation to the floor.
- But former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) placed Massie, Norman and Roy on the panel last year to placate right-wing hardliners who rebelled against his bid for the gavel.
- That put power in the hands of Democrats, who overwhelmingly support the package and are desperate to send aid to Ukraine.
What we're hearing: This kind of party crossover on the panel has not happened "in the time that I've been here," said Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.), who has served in Congress for more than a decade.
- Kildee, a member of Democratic leadership, said the move is "unprecedented."
- "I think it's highly unusual ... I don't know that I've ever seen that happen," said Rep. Joe Morelle (D-N.Y.), a former member of the panel.
What's next: The committee vote sets up a vote of the full House on Friday to pass what is known as the "rule," a procedural mechanism setting the terms of debate on legislation.
- Democrats will need to bail out the rule once again, with the House Freedom Caucus taking the rare step of endorsing a "no" vote.
- That likely won't be a big deal, however, now that Democrats have already rescued the rule once: "In for a penny, in for a pound," said Kildee.
