House Votes to Condemn Trump's Comments

After a fight ensued on the House floor over Nancy Pelosi's use of the word 'racist'
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 16, 2019 5:00 PM CDT
Updated Jul 16, 2019 6:10 PM CDT
Vote on Trump Comments Delayed After Pelosi Uses Word 'Racist'
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif. meets with reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, July 11, 2019.   (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

The House of Representatives voted Tuesday to denounce President Trump's comments on four congresswomen of color, CNN reports. The vote was 240-187, with four Republicans (Will Hurd, Brian Fitzpatrick, Fred Upton, and Susan Brooks) and independent Justin Amash joining Democrats. The vote was delayed for nearly two hours after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi referred to the "president's racist tweets," NBC News reports. Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., then asked Pelosi if she wanted to "rephrase her comment" (House members are not allowed to make personal attacks against the president on the House floor), but Pelosi said she had cleared her remarks with the House's parliamentarian before reading them. Collins persisted; after an hour spent considering his request to have Pelosi's remarks stricken from the record, presiding chair Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., got fed up and left: "We want to just fight. I abandon the chair."

Pelosi also apparently left the chamber during deliberations, which could constitute another violation of House rules. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer eventually took over and announced Pelosi's comments had been found "not in order." As CNN correspondent Manu Raju explains on Twitter, the parliamentarian ruled that the speech violated House rules, in what Raju calls "a highly unusual rebuke to the speaker." But a vote on whether to strike the comments from the record failed on a party-line vote of 190-232, the Hill reports. "Speaker Pelosi just broke the rules of the House, and is no longer permitted to speak on the floor of the House for the rest of the day," tweeted House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. But Fox News reports the House then voted to restore Pelosi's speaking privileges. (Much more of the latest on Trump's comments here.)

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