A bitter Democrat vs. Democrat fight broke out on the House floor Monday night. And there will be more of it today.
House Democrats failed to table a resolution condemning Rep. Chuy Garcia (D-Ill.) for trying to swing Illinois’ 4th District seat to his top aide, Patty Garcia, following his sudden retirement on Nov. 3.
The disapproval resolution, which will likely get a final vote this afternoon, was offered by fellow Democratic Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (Wash.), an extraordinary public rebuke. House Republicans were happy to go along with it. Most Democrats saw it as a stupid distraction from battling President Donald Trump. Only retiring Democratic Rep. Jared Golden (Maine) voted with MGP, a second-term member and Blue Dog.
The failed bid to kill the resolution set off a bitter round of attacks against MGP on the floor, especially from Illinois Democrats.
Among those who spoke in defense of Garcia: Democratic Reps. Becca Balint (Vt.), Sydney Kamlager-Dove (Calif.), Adriano Espaillat (N.Y.) and Jan Schakowsky (Ill.).
“This Democratic intraparty fighting is not what any of us want and it’s not what the American people deserve,” Kamlager-Dove said.
Garcia also spoke, detailing his wife’s struggle with multiple sclerosis, the untimely death of his daughter and their attempt to raise their grandchildren.
MGP fought back, however.
“If you are not going to run, you don’t get to choose your successor, no matter how noble the work you have done beforehand,” MGP said.
And barring a GOP turnaround, her resolution will pass.
A dangerous precedent. This was in some ways a unique situation. A Democrat tried to punish a fellow Democrat publicly. All Republicans voted against tabling the resolution.
But this week’s episode has Democrats asking new questions about whether this will further erode any remaining comity in the House. For example, will Democrats now file a resolution calling for a censure of Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) for a variety of personal issues that have plagued him over recent months?
Democrats did this when Republicans pushed censure motions against Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.). Democrats responded with a Mills censure motion. Enough Republicans crossed the aisle to help kill the Omar and McIver motions, so the Mills motion disappeared. But Republicans didn’t do that this time. We’ll see if Democrats retaliate, spurring a GOP pushback.
Democrats feel as though this whole chapter has been a waste of time.
“If we voted every day on if we didn’t like something a member did, I think we would be voting every day on only that,” Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said.
