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House Republicans’ use of a century-old legislative procedure that helps the minority party alter or oppose measures advanced by the majority has exposed significant divisions among Democrats. Now some House Democrats want to do away with the procedure, called a motion to recommit. It allows a lawmaker in the minority to move that a bill be sent back to a committee for a particular reason. In a letter to Pelosi and three other Democrat leaders, 17 freshman Democrats ask them to “end abuse of the MTR,” referring to the motion to recommit. The two freshmen, Reps. Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania...

The Democratic Party seems to be getting more and more divided by the day. House Democrats were celebrating the passage of a new gun control bill, however Republicans attached an amendment to the bill and gained 26 Democrat votes in the House which gave them a 220-206 win on the bill. The House voted Wednesday on H.R. 8, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019. The bill would expand background checks to include all gun sales, rather than just sales by licensed gun dealers as under current law. Republicans in the minority countered with an amendment to require that federal...

Earlier this week the Democrats now running the House of Representatives strutted their stuff with passage of a bill aiming at the ancient liberal target of the gun background check “loophole” for private sales. It was passed by a 240-190 margin on what was basically a party-line vote. But before that vote, Republicans offered an unexpected “motion to recommit” the bill to add language instructing law enforcement officials to notify ICE if an “illegal immigrant” attempted to buy a gun. Twenty-six Democrats voted with Republicans in favor of that motion, and embarrassed House leaders added the language as an amendment...

Earlier this week, House Republicans scored a second surprise victory on a 'motion to recommit,' one of the lower chamber minority's few procedural tactics. During a legislative battle over gun control legislation, more than two dozen Democrats backed a GOP proposal to require that ICE be notified whenever an illegal immigrant is flagged attempting to purchase a firearm. Republicans succeeded in another MTR gambit several weeks ago, adding language condemning anti-semitism to a foreign policy vote, a move clearly designed to isolate and shame Rep. Ilhan Omar . Following these losses, Democratic leadership is reeling, leading to a fiery...

House Republicans are driving Democrats crazy, and driving a major wedge through the majority party. GOPers are using a garden-variety procedural tool to goad Democrats into taking challenging votes on the floor – and risking the defeat or alteration of legislation which is on the verge of passing. The parliamentary gambit is called the "Motion to Recommit," or MTR as it’s known in congressional shorthand. MTR's must be "germane" and tied directly to the legislation at hand. In short, an MTR can't deal with cats if the bill deals with dogs.

After more than two dozen moderate Democrats broke from their party's progressive wing and sided with Republicans on a legislative amendment Wednesday, New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez reportedly sounded the alarm in a closed-door meeting Thursday and said those Democrats were "putting themselves on a list." The legislation that prompted the infighting was a bill that would expand federal background checks for gun purchases, the Washington Post reported. But a key provision requiring U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to be notified if illegal immigrants attempt to purchase guns saw 26 moderate Democrats side with Republicans. According to the...

Jesse Watters said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's reported warning to her moderate colleagues could signal a looming "catastrophe" for the Democratic Party.After more than two dozen moderate Democrats broke from their party's progressive wing and sided with Republicans on a legislative amendment Wednesday, Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) reportedly sounded the alarm in a closed-door meeting Thursday and said those Democrats were ("putting themselves on a list.") Ocasio-Cortez reportedly said she would help progressive activists unseat those moderates in their districts in the 2020 elections.

Recently sworn in Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is reportedly compiling “a list” of moderate Democrats that break party lines and vote with their Republican colleagues; lashing out at centrist legislators during a closed-door meeting on Capitol Hill.“After more than two dozen moderate Democrats broke from their party’s progressive wing and sided with Republicans on a legislative amendment Wednesday, New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez reportedly sounded the alarm in a closed-door meeting Thursday and said those Democrats were ‘putting themselves on a list,’” writes Fox News.Cortez was referring to recent legislation that expanded universal background checks for nearly all gun purchases in the United...

Who’s the Boss? Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Upstages Pelosi, Warns Moderate Dems: Vote Left or Be Put on List for Defeat in 2020 Freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) threatened moderate House Democrats she will put them on a list to be targeted in 2020 if they do not vote with the Leftist majority in the Democrat caucus, the Washington Post reported. Ocasio-Cortez made the threat during a contentious meeting of House Democrats led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) after Republicans maneuvered to get a pro-ICE amendment passed with help from moderate Democrats. Pelosi offered to help Democrats with tough votes but Ocasio-Cortez...

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) threatened her moderate colleagues during a Thursday Democratic caucus meeting, telling the lawmakers she plans to provide progressive activists searching for primary targets with a list of Democrats who work across the aisle. Speaker Nancy Pelosi began the meeting by chastising the two dozen moderates who voted on Tuesday in favor of a Republican amendment to a gun control bill that requires gun retailers to report illegal immigrants who attempt to buy a gun. “We are either a team or we’re not, and we have to make that decision,” Pelosi said, two people who were...

Democrats Nancy Pelosi and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the "Red Flag Bill" into state law this week, allowing authorities to confiscate guns from citizens. The law comes into effect 180 days from the date of Monday's signing.

You can either call this a procedural trick or a fracturing of the Democratic majority in the House. Either way, the new background check bill that passed in the House yesterday wound up including an amendment that requires ICE to be notified when an illegal alien attempts to purchase a firearm in the United States. The amendment to the bill was added via a motion to recommit. This procedure allows the minority to introduce an amendment after the bill is finalized but before the Speaker calls for a full floor vote. It didn’t pass by much, but some of...

A surprise Republican win in the House on a procedural vote Wednesday exposed divisions within the Democratic leadership, set off recriminations and underscored that the party is still adjusting to its new majority. GOP leaders used one of the few tools available to the House minority to amend a Democratic gun-control bill, adding a provision that would require notification to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement when undocumented immigrants try to buy guns. Twenty-six Democrats joined Republicans on the vote, an embarrassing setback for party leaders who had carefully screened amendments to keep GOP fingerprints off a high-profile bill. While the...

The House is slated to vote Wednesday on landmark legislation to require universal background checks for gun sales, a top priority for Democrats. It will mark the most significant gun control vote in years after the Senate failed in 2013 to pass similar bipartisan legislation to expand the federal background check system. It’s not the only day this week the House will take up legislation to address gun violence. House Democrats plan to follow Wednesday’s vote with another on Thursday for a bill to lengthen the review period for background checks, which is meant as a response to the 2015...

On Wednesday, for the first time in a generation, the U.S. House is poised to pass new gun control legislation. That a pair of new bills are even getting a vote reflects a confluence of events, including a newly empowered House Democratic majority, the apparently diminishing clout of the National Rifle Association, and the activism of a generation of young Americans following years of deadly school shootings. Democratic leaders say they have the votes to pass a bill requiring background checks on all commercial gun sales, including those at gun shows and over the internet. The bill also has five...

House Democratic leaders are scrambling for a way to unite their splintered caucus following a series of embarrassing votes that have empowered the minority Republicans and escalated tensions among the top party brass. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Thursday urged her troops to oppose the Republicans’ procedural motions as a blanket policy, regardless of their substance, but faced resistance from some moderates who want the leeway to vote with local concerns in mind.“Vote 'no.' Just vote 'no,' because the fact is a vote 'yes' is to give leverage to the other side, to surrender the leverage on the floor of...

Just got off phone with Leader Boehner's office. The Motion to Recommit is being worked on and will be presented.