Subject: FW: House Republicans' Bad Week
From: "Walker, Eric" <[email-masked]>
To: Comm_D <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 20 May 2016 12:57:13 -0700

From: Dem Leader Press Office [mailto:[email-masked]]
Sent: Friday, May 20, 2016 3:53 PM
Subject: House Republicans' Bad Week

Yesterday, House GOP leaders went to desperate lengths to target LGBT Americans - forcing Members to break regular order, support bigotry and switch their votes<http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2016/roll226.xml> on Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney's anti-LGBT discrimination amendment.  One Republican Member called the GOP leadership's maneuver "shameful<https://twitter.com/NYinDC/status/733327341506711553>" - while another Republican described it as "bull****<https://twitter.com/LukeRussert/status/733330065166106625>".  As Talking Points Memo<http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/republicans-switch-vote-lgbt-amendment> notes:

Initially, it looked like Maloney's amendment would pass in a Thursday morning vote.  At the end of the two minutes allotted to members for casting votes, there were 217 votes in favor of the amendment, with 206 votes against.

But Republicans held the vote open for about another five minutes, and slowly a handful of the "yea" votes from Republicans switched to "nea."

As the vote remained open, shouts of "Regular order!" could be heard on the House floor.  And as Republicans came closer to defeating the bill, people began chanting, "Shame! Shame! Shame!"

Shortly after there were enough votes to defeat the amendment, the voting was closed, and the amendment ultimately failed 213-212.

When asked about Republican members switching their votes, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) told reporters he didn't know anything about it.

With gimmicks like those, these headlines come to no one's surprise:

New Republic<https://newrepublic.com/article/133568/republicans-hit-new-low>: Republicans Hit a New Low

The Atlantic<http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/05/is-this-the-worst-congress-ever/483075/>: Is This the Worst Congress Ever?

MSNBC<http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/congressional-republicans-balk-taking-zika-threat-seriously?cid=eml_mra_20160517>: Congressional Republicans balk at taking Zika threat seriously

The Nation<http://www.thenation.com/article/zika-funding/>: Memo to House Republicans: Zika Is Not a Game

Washington Post Editorial<https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/republicans-stunningly-illogical-attempt-to-end-the-districts-budget-autonomy/2016/05/19/750d0cc4-1d2f-11e6-8c7b-6931e66333e7_story.html>: Republicans' stunningly illogical attempt to end the District's budget autonomy

The Hill<http://thehill.com/policy/defense/280136-house-moves-to-strike-women-in-draft-language-from-defense-bill>: House panel strips language requiring women to register for draft

International Business Times<http://www.ibtimes.com/paul-ryan-gop-eye-23b-food-stamp-cuts-2017-budget-2369301>: Paul Ryan, GOP Eye $23B In Food Stamp Cuts In 2017 Budget
Huffington Post<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trey-gowdy-dana-chipman-benghazi-committee_us_5738db52e4b08f96c18373e2?olgbhkbd5t2z7zxgvi>: Trey Gowdy's Former Top Lawyer Undercuts The Benghazi Committee

POLITICO<http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/paul-ryan-irs-freedom-caucus-223324>: Freedom Caucus strong-armed Ryan on IRS impeachment

While the reckless Republican Congress continues to ignore hard-working families' call to action, Democrats will continue to press for immediate, responsible solutions to keep our country's communities safe and their future prosperous.  And, we will continue to make a simple appeal to Speaker Ryan and his GOP Conference: #DoYourJob.