‘Breach of trust’: Democratic leaders shocked after 2 members cross aisle to help Republicans
By Sarah Ferris, Morgan Rimmer, CNN
(CNN) — Speaker Mike Johnson nearly lost control of the House floor — again — because of a group of disgruntled conservatives.
Then a pair of Democrats stepped in to help.
Two centrist Democrats, Rep. Jared Golden of Maine and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington, took the unusual step Tuesday of rescuing GOP leaders’ own agenda in the face of a conservative rebellion.
Those Democrats backed a key GOP procedural vote that needed to succeed for Republicans to later bring several bills to the floor.
The reason? It helped pave the way for a priority bill for Golden supporting lobstermen, according to two people familiar with the discussion. The bill already has White House support, and Golden and others hope it can become law this year.
But their vote also allowed Johnson to proceed with messaging votes that Democrats oppose, including a resolution to condemn socialism that Republicans hope to use against Democrats on the campaign trail.
The defection of those two Democrats quickly enraged members of their own party — including some party leaders, who were shocked by the two members’ votes, several people told CNN.
Asked whether he’s disappointed in those members, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters: “The two Democrats who voted for the rule did not give any member of House Democratic leadership a heads-up, and as a result, blindsided the entire caucus and created a significant breach of trust.”
Jeffries said it’s “under discussion” whether the two lawmakers will face repercussions.
Across the caucus, Democrats argued the defection in their ranks prevented a massive and embarrassing defeat for Republicans that could have forced Johnson to send members home for the rest of September.
Typically, members of the minority party stick together to oppose these kind of procedural votes, which the majority party needs to bring bills to the floor.
Multiple conservatives were blocking their party leaders’ plans for the floor this week in an attempt to protest a separate move to pass a stopgap funding bill that’s detested by the far right.
Republicans like Rep. Chip Roy refused to support a Senate-passed funding bill that didn’t allow House conservatives to insert their own priorities, like provisions against what they call “mass surveillance” or more money for President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda.
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