A pair of House Democrats voted to advance a slate of GOP bills in a procedural vote that was otherwise on track to fail — the second time they have crossed party lines to help out House GOP leaders in recent weeks.
Reps. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington and Jared Golden of Maine previously aided Speaker Mike Johnson earlier this month when they voted to advance a “rule” resolution that teed up a Golden-authored measure aiding lobstermen. The move sparked outrage among many of their Democratic colleagues and created a touchy situation for Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
But the dustup does not appear to have fazed Golden and Gluesenkamp Perez, who again joined with Republicans Tuesday to set up votes on bills that would hand President Donald Trump new authorities to sanction Russia’s trading partners as well as measures rolling back some EPA regulations.
The vote was 214-211, with two Republicans voting “no” — Reps. Andy Harris of Maryland and Ralph Norman of South Carolina. Several other Republicans, including Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee, Andrew Clyde of Georgia and Scott Perry of Pennsylvania voted “yes” only after extended talks with House GOP leaders.
The last time House Republicans adopted a rule without help from Democrats was in July.
Speaker Mike Johnson, when asked about Democrats helping him adopt a rule twice this month, said he “would have gotten the votes.”
“You saw me work it there at the end,” Johnson said. “We would have had the votes necessary, but we had some discussion about other measures that people want to consider, so just worked through the process.”
After Gluesenkamp Perez and Golden voted with the GOP earlier this month, Jeffries promised a “serious response,” but he later indicted that there would be no public consequences following private conversations with the lawmakers. Golden is retiring after his term ends, and Gluesenkamp Perez is seeking reelection in a district won by Trump in 2024.
Harris announced before the vote that he was introducing a bill to tackle affordability by suspending the federal gas tax and held out in a bid to secure floor consideration.
“Let’s put my bill on the floor and PASS IT,” Harris said in a post on X.
Two people involved in the floor conversation who were granted anonymity to describe it said GOP leaders promised Harris a meeting and discussion about possibly putting the bill on the floor this week.
Harris confirmed in an interview there would be a discussion about setting up a vote before the House leaves Thursday until after the Nov. 3 midterm elections.
“I think we’re going to get a vote,” Harris said. “Every member of the House will get a chance to vote on whether or not we suspend the gas tax for a while.”
“We have until Thursday to get this done,” he added.
Nico Portuondo contributed to this report.
