House Dem leaders face fallout over untimely floor vote fumbles
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House Minority Whip Katherine Clark and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries attend a press conference at DCCC headquarters in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 4. Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images
A week that was supposed to see House Democrats transition seamlessly from a landslide midterm victory to a leadership coronation has instead been pocked by surprise Republican victories on the House floor.
Why it matters: Skeptics of Democratic leadership have seized on these strategic fumbles to cast doubt on their much-heralded managerial abilities in the lead-up to the party's leadership elections next week.
- "It's really unfortunate that this happened this week when, obviously, that is a narrative we hear leadership portray," Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.) told Axios.
- Rep.-elect Melat Kiros (D-Colo.) said this week has "certainly not given me confidence," and that the election was an "indictment on how our party has been operating thus far, and this is a big part of why."
- "We do know that the Democratic caucus has blundered before on things, like whipping the votes to protect NPR last spring," said Rep.-elect Don Leonard (D-Ohio). "We botched that one."
What happened: The House voted 211 to 204 on Tuesday to quash an effort by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) to impeach Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, with support from all House Democrats present.
- The outcome quickly sparked backlash because nearly a dozen House Democrats were absent, many of whom got caught in a traffic jam returning from an Elect Democratic Women event.
- That was followed by an incident on Wednesday in which House Republicans passed a veterans bill by voice vote despite Democratic opposition.
- The incidents follow a procedural blowup in September in which a pair of centrist House Democrats repeatedly broke with leadership and helped the GOP advance key bills.
What they're saying: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), asked about these incidents by Axios, touted a different veterans bill Democrats forced to a successful floor vote on Thursday via a discharge petition.
- "House Democrats once again successfully forced a vote on a piece of legislation designed to make life better for the American people," he said.
- House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) did not respond to Axios' question and walked off the House floor into her office.
The intrigue: Even some current and incoming House Democrats who are voting for Jeffries as speaker acknowledged the vote was a black eye.
- "I think everyone's frustrated with how that all went down, I'm not going to lie to you about that," said Rep.-elect Dan Koh (D-Mass.).
- "People are pissed," a senior House Democrat told Axios.
The other side: Other Democrats told Axios the absences were an inevitable reality of Congress, noting that several who missed votes have said they were attending to emergencies.
- "I think everyone's explained what the situations were — somebody was recovering from surgery. There are certain things that are unavoidable," said Rep. Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.).
- Others said the upshot is that House Democrats need to do a better job of getting to votes on time: "The general consensus among the new members is on Jan. 3, it's time to lock in," Rep.-elect Matt Little (D-Minn.) told Axios.
Others said the speakership election offers a window into how Jeffries' approach to the speakership might play out over the coming year.
- Jeffries has always taken a more hands-off approach than his predecessor, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), preferring to let issues and fights among members resolve themselves.
