House Democrats suffered a second embarrassing floor stumble in two days on Wednesday, when the Republican-backed Take Care of America's Veterans Act passed by voice vote after Democrats failed to request a roll call, the Washington Examiner reports.
Democratic leaders have long opposed the bill, which reworks some veterans' benefits to boost others. Minority Whip Katherine Clark accused Republicans of "dirty pool," saying the bill went through while floor staff were still discussing GOP changes. Republicans say Democrats simply made a mistake.
It came one day after 11 Democrats missed Tuesday's vote on Rep. Thomas Massie's articles of impeachment against War Secretary Pete Hegseth, letting the House refer the articles to committee, 211-204, which effectively killed the effort. Reps. Melanie Stansbury and Marilyn Strickland said they were stuck in traffic; according to Axios, some members were coming back from an Elect Democratic Women event down the street.
"We got to show up. We got to get these things done," Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told the Examiner, calling the absences "absolutely unacceptable." Rep. Jason Crow said Democrats have to "build an operation" to count votes before January. "Lessons learned," he said.
Democrats take the House majority in just over 50 days.
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