Political opponents of former House Republican Majority Leader Tom DeLay nicknamed the Texan “The Hammer” as an insult. But in one sense, it was true. When new members of his conference entered Congress, he would proceed to hammer into them the point that however one votes on a bill or a leadership contest, “thou shall not go against one’s party on a ‘rules’ vote.”
That has not been the case in the House of Representatives of the 118th Congress. The narrow Republican majority has set the record for the number of rules vote losses, at six and counting. The record-breaker came on Feb. 15 when the rule to vote for legislation to expand the federal deduction for state and local taxes, or SALT, was tanked by 18 Republicans.
Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy notched up three rules vote losses.
Read more…
