House Democrats fume about GOP's anti-socialism bill
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Rep. Josh Gottheimer speaks at an AI forum in Washington on March 24. Photo: Leigh Vogel/Getty Images The Hill & Valley Forum
House Democrats are grumbling that Republicans are setting one last political trap for them before November by attaching language touting their marquee voter ID legislation to a resolution denouncing socialism.
Why it matters: This is a classic election-year tactic by the majority party in Congress, but centrist Democrats say it is also a missed opportunity for a genuinely bipartisan vote to denounce socialism.
- "This isn't a serious bill," Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), a vocal moderate who has clashed fiercely with his party's democratic socialist wing, told Axios.
- "If you actually want to take on socialism instead of playing political games, you don't slip in the SAVE [America] Act as a poison pill that you know no Democrat will vote for."
Driving the news: The House is set to vote as soon as Tuesday on a four-page resolution that "condemns and denounces socialism in all its forms, including the Democratic Socialists of America and opposes the implementation of socialist policies in the United States."
- It also "calls for the enactment of the SAVE America Act to ensure election security, increase public confidence in America's voting system, and close loopholes in order to prevent noncitizens from voting in elections."
- The SAVE America Act, which would require proof of U.S. citizenship to vote in federal elections, is broadly opposed by Democrats, who say it would disenfranchise American citizens who do not have passports.
State of play: Gottheimer and fellow centrist Reps. Hillary Scholten (D-Mich.), Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.) and Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) tried and failed to replace the measure with one excluding any mention of the SAVE Act.
- They proposed their version as an amendment to the Republican-led House Rules Committee, but the panel declined to take it up and advanced the GOP version of the bill.
- Gottheimer stressed that he would have no problem voting for a clean measure denouncing socialism, telling Axios he has "been clear that I don't think the DSA are Democrats."
- "They're against our leadership, they're against our values, and they're running on an extremist platform," he said.
What we're hearing: Several other Democratic moderates told Axios they may have supported Gottheimer's resolution but cannot stomach voting to support the SAVE America Act.
- "I've voted against socialism before. I'm for a clean anti-socialism resolution," said Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.), who told Axios he wants to "go nowhere near" the SAVE America Act.
- Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.), the chair of the center-left New Democrat Coalition, told Axios: "It's not a socialism resolution. They can call it whatever they want, it's a 'Save the SAVE Act' [resolution]."
- "They can put lipstick on a pig, it's still their voter suppression bill," Schneider added.
Yes, but: Retiring Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine) told Axios he will "probably vote for" the resolution despite the language praising the SAVE America Act.
- Golden — who voted for an earlier iteration of the bill last year but opposed the SAVE America Act in a vote this February — told Axios he is "not going to let that muddy the water."
- Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), the lone House Democrat who voted for the SAVE America Act in February, declined to say how he plans to vote.
