So Much For That “New Day” In The People’s House
By: Meredith Kelly
After Last Week’s Embarrassing Fallout, Speaker Ryan Wants To Change The Rules To Protect Vulnerable GOP
Last week, Speaker Ryan’s leadership team held a vote open and twisted arms on the floor to kill an amendment that would have helped protect LGBT Americans who work for government contractors from discrimination. The coverage of that vote was less than flattering for House Republicans, especially for the vulnerable Republican incumbents whom Team Ryan successfully pressured into changing their votes. Here’s a sample:
7 Republicans Flipped Their Vote on LGBT Amendment, Setting Them Up for Attack
Chaos erupts in House after defeated LGBT rights bill
Civil rights vote switch heaps shame on Poliquin
Poliquin, Republicans cave to party pressure, refuse to own tough votes
Poliquin among 7 House Republicans to switch votes, defeating gay rights protection
David Young among those who switched vote on LGBT measure
News out of a closed door meeting today reveals that Speaker Paul Ryan is trying to avoid another such embarrassment on the House floor, which imperils his vulnerable incumbents back home and draws a direct line of connection between Donald Trump and House Republicans. Ryan is trying to change the rules:
“Speaker Paul Ryan is taking steps to bring greater order to the House floor after a Democrat-authored gay rights amendment caused chaos last week. Ryan told House Republicans Tuesday that in the future, such amendments will have to be printed ahead of time. Current rules can allow amendments to be written and voted on in real time when spending bills are up for debate. It’s a procedural change that could allow the GOP majority to better manage politically problematic votes.”
So much for that “new day” Speaker Ryan promised for the House of Representatives. Make no mistake: No one was “surprised” or “confused” about this amendment. They knew what the amendment was and that Heritage Action believed Republicans would “feel better when you stand before a Holy God and have to” explain voting against it.
“Paul Ryan promised a more open floor process when he took over as Speaker, but clearly the risk is too high for House Republicans, given their backwards, discriminatory inclinations. Speaker Ryan is fooling himself if he thinks simply changing the rules will shield his Trump Ticket from further damage,” said Meredith Kelly of the DCCC.