'Another black eye for Dems' as House floor chaos unfolds: 'Not a good start'

President Donald Trump delivers his State of the Union address, February 24, 2026 Original public domain image from Flickr

Democrats made their second big mistake in less than two days on Wednesday when they allowed a far-right veterans bill to pass the House on a voice vote.

A voice vote is when someone proposes the bill, the parliamentarian asks for the "yays" and the group yells then they ask for the "nays" and they yell. In this case, House Republicans declared the bill passed. A Democrat could have asked for a recorded vote, meaning the parliamentarian must call each name and record their vote.

"Some confusion here about what exactly happened. But this is another black eye for Democrats. Two in two days," said Punchbowl News reporter Jake Sherman on X.

One anonymous Democratic staffer sent a message to a source: "It appears Democratic leadership just let a controversial veterans benefits bill pass by voice vote and didn't request a recorded vote. Hence the disarray on the floor. This is a huge procedural mess-up. Texts in group chats of Dem staff right now include phrases such as: 'How could they have let that happen?' 'We are not off to a good start.' 'This coming right on the heels of the attendance issue last night is incredibly damning of current leadership.'"

The staffers are referring to a Tuesday night vote during which 11 Democrats were stuck in traffic and didn't arrive at the Capitol in time to vote. One Democrat who did make it got out of the car and walked quickly. Another said they had the cab drop them off on the Senate side of the Capitol. Another Democrat was having a minor surgery and arranged it so they could be back in time as well. Two Democrats entered their votes after the fact.

The Nevada Independent'sJon Ralston said that Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.) spoke on the House floor about his absence on Wednesday, saying that there was a “personal emergency” and that he took “full accountability” for having missed the Tuesday impeachment vote.

“The accountability I demand of others applies to me, too,” Horsford said from the floor.

MS NOW reporter Mychael Schnell said on X that other House Democratic group chats asked about the 11 Democrats and questioned the specifics about why they missed the vote, saying that it made the party look bad.

"The text was sent before the list of absences was known. One of the 11 identified themselves and explained what happened. Then a lawmaker responded and said everyone has to be at the Capitol for votes," said Schnell.

In an extensive statement, Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calf.) explained what happened.

"In short, GOP leadership resorted to unprecedented treachery to pass TCAVA because they did not have the votes to pass it otherwise," the Democrat said. "This is an affront to the veterans and servicemembers who now stand to lose access to benefits bcause of this terrible bill. This is also an affront to the workings of the House and we should all be outraged. These acts are made even more stark as we remember that today is Veterans Day."

What happened, he said, is that as they were debating the "Rule" of Takano's discharge petition to consider the Major Richard Star Act, the House began voting on HR 1013.

"During this vote," the statement continues, "the speaker and GOP leadership presented Ranking Member Takano with an engrossment correction and a procedural option to allow the House to have a single vote tomorrow on the Major Richard Star Act, rather than a vote on the rule and a vote on final passage."

Takano and the Democratic leadership stepped away from the floor to review the details of the package and edits at the request of the Republlican leadership.

"The Speaker Pro Tem. gaveled out the final vote on HR 1013 and quietly called up H.R. 9237 for a voice vote (where no members voiced a yay or nay) and gaveled out the vote on H.R. 9237 in a total of 5 seconds," the statement continued. "This is an unprecedented breach of House procedure, all so House Republicans can quietly pass their bill without accountability and putting their names to their willingness to take benefits away from veterans. This evening RM Takano will take the floor to explain this outrageous series of events during the Special Order hour."

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