House Republicans are teeing up a pair of bills this week to put Democrats on the record about where they stand on their party’s socialist insurgency.
The House Rules Committee just advanced a resolution to condemn socialism during its Monday meeting, with no Democrats voting in favor of moving it forward. Democrats, in fact, criticized the resolution as a waste of time.
Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., called the bill “nonsense” and argued it did little to better the lives of Americans.
“So you’re concerned about rising gas, or are you concerned about grocery prices? You know, don’t worry. Republicans in Congress are passing another non-binding resolution condemning socialism,” McGovern said.
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Tensions erupted at one point as Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colo., clashed with Committee on House Administration Chairman Bryan Steil, R-Wis., over the definition of socialism.
Neguse had attempted to press Steil on whether he would see President Donald Trump trying to take a “20% stake” in Kroger grocery stores as socialism, to which Steil replied he would “want to see the details.”
“Oh, you’d want to see the details,” Neguse yelled as the two men spoke over each other. “You said if the government owns grocery stores, that would be socialist. But if, of course, Donald Trump were to announce an equity stake in a grocery store, well, ‘I’d have to really see the details,’ because we all know the play.”
Steil said he would be open to seeing such a proposal if it had a national security imperative, but stated repeatedly that Neguse was posing a hypothetical.
At one point, Rules Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., chided Neguse for interrupting Steil.
Steil shot back at one point, “Some folks on your side of the aisle would like to have government-run grocery stores. I think that’s nuts.”
“And if the president of the United States announced that the United States government was taking an…equity stake in grocery stores?” Neguse pressed.
After more back-and-forth, Steil said, “I think there would need to be a national security rationale for the action. I don’t see any in your hypothetical. I don’t see a national security focus.”
Neguse called it a “helpful answer,” to which Steil quipped, “It’s a hypotherical. So we’re entering silly season.”
A House-wide test known as a “rule vote” on the resolution will take place on Tuesday afternoon, followed finally by a vote on the resolution itself on Tuesday evening, according to a provisional schedule obtained by Fox News Digital.
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It’s not uncommon for Democrats on the House Rules Committee to oppose GOP-led measures. But the move is especially stark as Republicans seize on the left’s inter-party civil war that has dominated the midterm election cycle.
Republicans are capitalizing on that civil war with another measure expected for a vote on Wednesday afternoon, according to that provisional schedule. That vote will be on a constitutional amendment to cap the number of Supreme Court justices at nine.
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Several top progressives, including former Vice President Kamala Harris and Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Ed Markey, D-Mass., have called for expanding the Supreme Court to up to 13 seats.
House GOP leaders have opted to fast-track that legislation past the House Rules Committee. In exchange, however, it will need two-thirds of the chamber to pass as opposed to a simple majority.
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“It’s time for the Democrats to pick a side. Stop playing the middle. Be proud of who you are. You were elected to lead, so lead. Have an opinion. We intend to put you on record,” House GOP Conference Chair Lisa McClain, R-Mich., told Fox News Digital.
“Do you want to pack the Supreme Court or not? It’s really simple. It’s a yes or no vote. It’s no bigger than that. Two — do you believe in socialism? If you do, you should say it loud and say it proud. I personally don’t believe in socialism. I like the fact that we have a democracy, that we have a republic, that we have a free society. And I’m proud to put myself on record.”
Meanwhile the top Democrat, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., side-stepped a question on whether he supports the anti-socialism resolution on Monday.
“I haven’t taken a look at that resolution, although it’s my understanding that the resolution elevates the so-called SAVE America Act, which is just the ‘Suppress the Vote Act.’ And I’m not clear how many Democrats are actually gonna support a resolution whose focus is on trying to rig the midterm election by elevating this voter suppression legislation that Donald Trump has been trying to jam down the road to the American people for the last year,” he told reporters.
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In addition to condemning socialism, the resolution also hails Republican-led election security bills as “common-sense election integrity measures, including proof of citizenship, photo identification, and database checks.”
It calls for the “enforcement” of the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which has passed the House but has not been taken up in the Senate.
Democrats have largely panned that legislation as attempts at voter suppression.
Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, D-Pa., said the bill was a bid to “silence political opponents.”
“Let’s scare people with yet another boogeyman and not do anything about it. Not really solve problems, just try to scare people,” Scanlon said.
Meanwhile, Rep. Nick Langworthy, R-N.Y., pointed out that Democratic socialists were already in power in his own state and warned it could spread elsewhere.
“I’ve seen firsthand the alarming rise of socialism…families in western New York have watched one-party rule in Albany pile on more taxes, more mandates, more government control, while hardworking taxpayers are left to foot the bill,” Langworthy said. “And now downstate, we’ve watched the socialist left move more from the activist fringe into positions of real, serious political power. And anyone thinks that these ideas are going to stay confined in New York City is sadly mistaken.”
