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\n

Democrats have spent the better part of two years looking on in glee as House Republicans have struggled to wrangle<\/a> their narrow majority and enact a consensus agenda.<\/p>\n

Now, eyeing a potentially small majority of their own, they are eager not to see the shoe quickly land on the other foot \u2014 which is why Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is under fierce internal pressure to crack down on a surprise rebellion this week.<\/p>\n

The decision by Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Wash.) and Jared Golden (D-Maine) to support a Republican procedural measure<\/a> that would have otherwise failed \u2014 essentially bailing out Speaker Mike Johnson\u2019s floor agenda \u2014 prompted Jeffries and fellow Democratic leaders to decry a \u201cbreach of trust\u201d and promise a \u201cserious response.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rank-and-file members are watching closely to see if Jeffries follows through on those threats and moves to rein in rogue members who could undermine the party agenda and his own leadership.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf there’s no understanding that we need to stay together on procedural measures, then we’re going to be like Republicans,\u201d said Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, the top Rules Committee Democrat and a Jeffries ally. \u201cI mean, they can’t get anything done because everybody’s going off in different directions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many Democrats are hoping Jeffries will set an assertive tone and send a message that some protest tactics will not be tolerated in a future majority. The situation is of particular interest to members given the slate of insurgent hard-left members poised to join the caucus next term \u2014 some of whom have openly discussed adopting strategies embraced by the hard right<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s an open secret \u2014 we don’t want to end up with our own Freedom Caucus,\u201d one House Democrat granted anonymity to speak candidly said in an interview, referring to the fractious ultraconservative group. \u201cYou see how a core group of people can stop the workings here \u2026 when it’s continual and it’s just about grandstanding. \u2026 We don’t want that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m not saying that those folks coming in are going to operate in that way,\u201d the member added. \u201cWe don’t know. But we\u2019ve got to tighten up the systems.\u201d<\/p>\n

Already, House Democrats have competing views about how and when to punish the rogue members. Multiple members, for example, have privately suggested kicking Gluesenkamp Perez off of the Appropriations Committee \u2014 a highly coveted assignment.<\/p>\n

$\"Gluesenkamp$ <\/p>\n

But others acknowledge that leaders have little leverage against the duo. Golden is leaving the House at the end of this term, and Gluesenkamp Perez is one of the most vulnerable Democrats in the country.<\/p>\n

Keeping her seat in a district President Donald Trump won by 3 percentage points in 2024 could determine the outcome of the midterm elections, and she has made her clashes with party leaders a core part of her political identity.<\/p>\n

Some members \u2014 including progressives who used procedural votes for leverage during Nancy Pelosi\u2019s speakership \u2014 also cautioned leadership from overpolicing members.<\/p>\n

Asked about how Jeffries should \u201cpunish\u201d the members, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), a former chair of the Progressive Caucus, said, \u201cWe’re not kids, and he’s not our dad.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m elected by 750,000 people. I get to make my decisions about what I want,\u201d Jayapal said before adding, \u201cAt the same time, I think there has to be a strong commitment to the team.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that there can be certain reasonable expectations \u2014 for example, to flag how one may intend to vote on something,\u201d Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said. \u201cI also think that the idea that there will be consequences depending on how that is laid out could create a slippery slope.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both of the rebels are shrugging off the intense reaction from Democratic leaders and some of their colleagues. Golden said he voted with Republicans to advance a bill he cosponsored benefiting lobstermen in Maine; Gluesenkamp Perez said she voted to support Golden and \u201cpeople who make their livelihoods and heritage on the water.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI do not have a polished political strategy,\u201d she told reporters Wednesday. \u201cI know my community, and that’s who sent me here, and that’s who I am thinking about.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many of their Democratic colleagues aren\u2019t ready to just let it go, however. Several argued in interviews that if every member broke ranks on procedural votes to advance legislation they support, the party would lose significant leverage.<\/p>\n

$\"Golden,$ <\/p>\n

\u201cI am generally of the view that if you believe that you are a free agent in this town, maybe you don’t get to use the team locker room anymore,\u201d Rep. Sean Casten (D-Ill.) said, adding that he could not think of a potential punishment \u201cwithin the scope of what leadership can do that could be opposed by the caucus.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rep. Greg Landsman (D-Ohio) said \u201csome tough love\u201c might be necessary to send a message to the broader caucus: \u201cWe’re all in this together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amid the agita, it\u2019s not clear how quickly Jeffries will act. An internal committee dealing with caucus rules met Wednesday and discussed the matter<\/a> but did not advance any specific proposals for sanctions or rules changes.<\/p>\n

Jeffries himself has not committed to a timeline<\/a> for imposing consequences against the two defectors. He told reporters Wednesday he wants to pursue action \u201csooner rather than later\u201d as he faces internal questions about whether he can exert the same level of control over Democrats as his predecessor did.<\/p>\n

Pelosi dealt with rebellions of her own, including moderates who repeatedly voted with Republicans to amend Democratic bills<\/a> on the floor. But she pointedly commented on the disloyalty on display this week, with Golden and Gluesenkamp Perez essentially voting to advance the GOP floor agenda.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t even consider that anybody would do that,\u201d she said Tuesday. \u201cWe never had that problem, so I\u2019m disappointed that they did that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another lawmaker who was happy to comment Wednesday was Johnson, who has routinely contended with GOP mutinies during his time in office \u2014 including one that Gluesenkamp Perez and Golden bailed him out of Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Jeffries \u201chas a serious problem in his caucus,\u201d he told reporters, citing the \u201cwarring factions in his party.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don’t see a way out of that thicket,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I’m not going to tell him how to govern his conference, and he doesn’t, or shouldn’t, be telling me how to.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Democrats have spent the better part of two years looking on in glee as House Republicans have struggled to wrangle their narrow majority and enact a consensus agenda. Now, eyeing a potentially small majority of their own, they are eager not to see the shoe quickly land on the other foot \u2014 which is why […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":26999,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-congress"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26998","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26998"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26998\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}