The House voted Tuesday to formally reprimand Illinois Representative Chuy García over an eleventh-hour succession maneuver that left his chief of staff as the only candidate on the ballot for his congressional seat, a rare public rebuke that laid bare deep divisions among Democrats. The chamber voted 236-186 to adopt the resolution, with all Republicans supporting it and more than two dozen Democrats breaking ranks. Ten members did not vote and four voted present. The move marked a striking moment in an already tense election year, with members openly clashing over accusations of “election subversion” from within their own caucus. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington introduced the resolution, arguing that García’s late announcement delivered just before the filing deadline denied voters a fair chance to choose their next representative. In a floor speech Monday evening, Perez said lawmakers must call out attempts to manipulate electoral systems “on both sides of the aisle,” adding, “No one has the right to subvert the right of the people to choose their elected representatives.” García’s abrupt retirement decision earlier this month meant his longtime chief of staff was, at the time, the only Democrat able to file in time, prompting accusations that García had engineered his own succession. Democratic leadership, however, blasted the measure as unnecessary and politically dangerous. In a joint statement Tuesday morning, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and other senior Democrats defended García as a “progressive champion” and urged colleagues to reject what they called a “misguided resolution.” Several Democrats rallied to García’s defense during the floor debate, praising his decades of advocacy for immigrant rights and working-class communities. Some members audibly booed Perez as she spoke, underscoring the raw emotion coursing through the caucus. Many Democrats argued that the matter belonged before the House Ethics Committee rather than the full chamber. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York warned on social media that the vote could set a precedent allowing the majority party to force punitive votes on nearly any member’s missteps. “This is why the Ethics Committee exists,” she wrote, cautioning that Tuesday’s vote risked turning minor disputes into political weapons. Nearly every Democrat, except Perez, voted Monday night to block the resolution from moving forward. But unified Republican support ensured the measure advanced. After the final vote Tuesday, some Democrats who opposed the reprimand sought to distance themselves from García’s actions while rejecting what they saw as a disproportionate punishment. “My vote should not be viewed as an endorsement of the actions that created this situation,” said Rep. Lori Trahan of Massachusetts, noting she had spoken with García directly. Perez, meanwhile, thanked lawmakers including the Democrats who joined Republicans for backing the reprimand. She commended García’s long record of public service and his stated familial reasons for retiring but maintained that his handling of the transition warranted scrutiny. “It shouldn’t have caused as much friction as it did to speak honestly and consistently about election subversion,” she said after the vote. “Congress is a legislative body, not a social club, and the American people will not accept blind calls to party loyalty in defense of an effort to deny them the right to a free and fair election.” Full List of House Democrats Voting to Reprimand Chuy García Jake Auchincloss (Massachusetts) Ami Bera (California) Kathy Castor (Florida) Angie Craig (Minnesota) Sharice Davids (Kansas) Bill Foster (Illinois) Kyle Gillen (New York) Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (Washington) Jared Golden (Maine) Maggie Goodlander (New Hampshire) Adam Gray (California) Greg Landsman (Ohio) Susie Lee (Nevada) Stephen Lynch (Massachusetts) Kristen McDonald Rivet (Michigan) Seth Moulton (Massachusetts) Chris Pappas (New Hampshire) Scott Peters (California) Pat Ryan (New York) Kim Schrier (Washington) Eric Sorensen (Illinois) Haley Stevens (Michigan) Eugene Vindman (Virginia) This is a breaking news story. Updates to follow.
https://www.newsweek.com/chuy-garcia-democrats-vote-rebuke-succession-plan-perez-11070112
Full List of House Democrats Voting to Rebuke Their Democratic Colleague
