House Democratic leaders were blindsided Tuesday when two rank-and-file members crossed the aisle to help Republicans advance a series of GOP messaging bills heading into the midterm elections.
Rep. Katherine Clark (Mass.), the Democratic whip, said she received no notice from either Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine) or Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Wash.) about their intention to support a Republican rule governing the GOP bills.
"That came as a surprise," Clark said shortly after the vote.
Clark said she has not spoken to the lawmakers since they cast their votes, but she was clearly frustrated with the pair for flouting an unwritten rule of House politics: The minority party virtually always unites against the majority party's procedural rules, even if individual members of the minority support the underlying legislation.
"One of the rules of being on a team is that we vote against the rule. So I'm sure we'll have further discussions," Clark said.
Asked if that would include any disciplinary measures, she steered clear of the notion.
"We'll just have further discussions," Clark said.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) appeared to be stunned by the defections as well, though he was also careful not to denounce his fellow Democrats outright.
"We're going to have a conversation about it all, and until that point, you know — I have nothing to say at this point," he told Capitol Hill reporter Michael Jones.
The vote, along with the combination of factors that led to it, highlights the difficulties that Jeffries and Democratic leaders might face if they win control of the chamber in the midterms and have just a slim majority to work with in the next Congress.
Crossing the aisle to vote for rules is exceedingly rare. One exception came in 2023, when more than 50 Democrats, led by Jeffries, helped GOP leaders pass a rule required to raise the debt ceiling. Those votes were needed to help then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) prevent a federal default in the face of a conservative revolt over deficit spending. But that unusual move had the blessing of Democratic leaders. Tuesday's aisle-hopping did not.
Absences also played a role in the outcome: Eight Democratic lawmakers were not on hand for Tuesday's rule vote.
Tuesdays defections occurred just as Democratic leaders were poised to block the rule underlying a series of Republican bills that GOP leaders are racing to pass before the House leaves Washington to hit the midterm campaign trail. Among those proposals are bills to condemn socialism, punish universities that boycott Israel and amend protections for the North Atlantic right whale.
Five conservative Republicans voted against the rule, not because they oppose the underlying bills, but as a protest against the decision by GOP leaders to pass a massive government funding bill without going through the normal rules process. That strategy allowed Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to adopt the Senate-passed funding bill, known as a continuing resolution, with broad bipartisan support, thereby avoiding a politically perilous government shutdown just before an election where control of the House is up for grabs.
Those five GOP dissenters would have been enough to sink the rule on the Republican messaging bills if the Democrats had stayed united in opposition. Instead, the support from Golden and Gluesenkamp Perez put the measure over the top.
The stunning development is not likely to change the ultimate fate of the Republican messaging bills, most of which lack the support to evade a Democratic filibuster in the Senate. But it could alter the congressional calendar for the remainder of the month.
Before the vote, there were rumors swirling through the Capitol that if Johnson and his leadership team lacked the support to pass rules, they would leave Washington early this month to avoid highlighting internal divisions on the chamber floor — divisions that would play into the hands of Democrats, whose midterm message leans heavily on the notion that Republicans are simply too extreme and inflexible to govern.
"They may be in a position where nothing can pass this month based on absences and angst among their members — nothing can pass maybe without it being on suspension," Rep. Pete Aguilar (Calif.), the chair of the House Democratic Caucus, told reporters Tuesday in the Capitol.
By rescuing the rule for GOP leaders, the defecting Democrats have effectively salvaged Johnson's September agenda and breathed new life into the messaging bills on socialism, Israel and environmental protection — all of which will challenge certain vulnerable Democrats facing tough reelection contests in November.
Indeed, the resolution denouncing socialism — one of Republicans' main midterm messages and an issue that has divided Democrats — hit the floor Tuesday evening. It was adopted 220-192, with eight Democrats voting in favor.
Golden, who is retiring at the end of this term, has championed one of the underlying bills, which is designed to protect lobstermen from economic harm as a result of the protections for the right whale. Shortly after he approved the rule, the Maine centrist went to the House floor to promote the bill, which passed later Tuesday evening.
Gluesenkamp Perez also suggested she backed the GOP rule to ensure that the lobster bill made it across the finish line.
"Sunday night my son pulled his first fish out of the Columbia river," she posted Tuesday on the social platform X. "What the DC bubble doesn't get is that working waterfronts require working people. Nature is not a terrarium — and you don't get effective environmentalism without the input of people who make their livelihoods and heritage on the water-whether we're talking about lobsters or sea lions–working people need a seat at the table and electeds need to listen to them, not data from the 1990s."
Whatever happens next, some Democrats dismissed the idea that the defecting party members would be punished in any way.
"No, no, no," said Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.). "Who are we, the Republicans?"
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