Washington – The House on Tuesday adopted a resolution to denounce socialism “in all its forms” in a political messaging exercise ahead of the November elections. The House adopted the resolution in a 220-192-2 vote, with eight Democrats voting and all Republicans in favor. Two Democrats voted present. Democrats who supported the resolution included Reps. Kathy Castor of Florida, Henry Cuellar of Texas, Don Davis of North Carolina, Jared Golden of Maine, Vicente González of Texas, Marie Gluesenkamp Pérez of Washington, Darren Soto of Florida and Gabe Vásquez of New Mexico. Those voting present were Representatives Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania and Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire. Republican leaders scheduled the vote after Democratic primary voters embraced several Democratic socialist candidates. Republicans connected those victories to their own effort to pass President Trump’s signature election regulations bill, the SAVE America Act. The resolution also reaffirms its support for legislation that has been stalled for months in the Senate, where it lacks even simple majority support. “We denounce not only socialism, but also the idea of people who are not American citizens voting in our elections, because that is part of their platform,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said Tuesday of the Democratic Socialists of America. A small handful of Democrats in Congress identify as democratic socialists, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, although several candidates aligned with the movement have won primaries in recent months, with Darializa Avila Chevalier of New York and Melat Kiros of Colorado defeating incumbent Democrats. and other related measures for final approval. The protest votes arose from their problems with a short-term government funding bill. But two moderate Democrats, Golden and Gluesenkamp Pérez, defected and helped the procedural vote succeed, putting some of their Democratic colleagues in a politically difficult situation. House Democratic leadership condemned Golden and Gluesenkamp Pérez’s decision later Tuesday. “The decision by two of our colleagues to blindside the entire House Democratic Caucus and join the Republican majority to pass a procedural rule on the brink of failure represents a significant breach of trust. It is an action that requires a serious response, and we have asked the Caucus Rules Committee to address this shortly,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said in a joint statement with House Minority Leader Katherine Clark and Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar. Aguilar noted before the vote that some Democrats have introduced a separate resolution to condemn socialism that removes the statement of support for the SAVE America Act. “We are capitalists. We believe in a capitalist system and rules and laws,” the California lawmaker said Tuesday morning. “But what Republicans are looking to do here is just add another talking point where they can talk about the SAVE Act.” In a statement before the vote, Jeffries said he would vote against the resolution because of the inclusion of the SAVE America Act. “House Republicans continue to desperately push toxic voter suppression legislation instead of working to make life more affordable for ordinary Americans in the midst of a serious cost of living crisis. House Resolution 1490 explicitly calls for enactment of the so-called SAVE America Act, which is the top legislative priority of far-right extremists,” the New York Democrat said. More from CBS News Go deeper with The Free Press
