Rep. Hoyer calls for House voting rule to be scrapped

Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) on Tuesday called for the elimination of the House rule that prohibits holding votes open for the purpose of changing the outcome.

“Rule 2(a) is not enforceable,” Hoyer told the Select Committee to Investigate the Voting Irregularities of Aug. 2, 2007, adding that he would not be opposed to a committee recommendation to eliminate that rule.

{mosads}Rep. Bill Delahunt (D-Mass.), the select committee chairman, said in his opening statement of the marathon hearing that he agrees with Hoyer.

“I do have a sense that — when the dust settles — that as we consider the events of the evening with the advantage of hindsight and a calm perspective, a culprit will emerge,” he said. “A culprit in the form of a rule … a rule that was enacted with noble intent, to curb other perceived abuses … but a rule that is at best difficult and at worst the catalyst for the raw anger we observed on Aug. 2,” he said.

The panel’s final report, which may include a recommendation to review the rule, is due no later than Sept. 15.

The voting rule was adopted last year by Democrats, who cited the November 2003 Medicare drug bill vote that was held open for nearly three hours as GOP leaders twisted arms and President Bush was awakened to make calls to members before dawn.

Since taking over the majority, House Democrats have also urged their members to change votes in tight roll calls. Democrats held open a procedural vote on ethics legislation in March as several members changed their votes.

The Aug. 2, 2007 vote was on a motion to recommit an agriculture-spending bill and Republicans appeared to have the votes.

Rep. Michael McNulty (D-N.Y.), who presided in the Speaker’s chair during the 2007 vote, also testified on Tuesday and apologized for having gaveled the Republican amendment closed when the voting tally reached a 214-214 deadlock. The electronic tally board in the chamber showed the amendment winning by a margin of 215-213 when it was gaveled.

“To summarize, I called this vote prematurely, and that action caused a measure of chaos, confusion and anger on the House floor,” he said. “The morning after the event, I publicly apologized on the House floor to all the members of the House of Representatives. I repeat that apology today.”

McNulty, who has presided over the House hundreds of times during his two decades in the lower chamber, pointed out that members are often afforded extra time for a vote depending on whether an event is occurring at the time, such as a White House visit.

Republicans have cried foul over the 2007 vote. Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), the ranking member of the panel, said the “chaos of Aug. 2, 2007 was a dark moment in the history of the United States House of Representatives and must never be allowed to happen again.”

More than 100 Republicans stormed off the floor in protest in what has been described as one of the most raucous votes in recent history. GOP officials subsequently referred to the roll call as the “stolen vote.”

Near the end of the vote, Hoyer appeared to urge McNulty to gavel it to a close.

Pence asked McNulty, Hoyer and Capitol Hill aides who testified whether Hoyer’s pressure caused McNulty to react by closing the vote, despite the New York Democrat’s testimony that he didn’t hear Hoyer and that he was more focused on trying to abide by the House rules.

“It’s certainly possible,” Hoyer said, but added that he took McNulty at his word when he testified that he did not gavel the vote closed as a result of Hoyer’s push.

“I did not hear what [Hoyer] said — the noise that night was deafening,” McNulty said in his testimony. He emphatically denied that Hoyer pressured him in any way. 

 “I’m surprised — disappointed,” a chuckling Hoyer said, of McNulty’s testimony that he could not hear the majority leader.

The seven-hour hearing sought to dissect the events of the 2007 vote through interviews with Hoyer, McNulty and seven staff members. A video clip, which included color-coded “halos” around those staff and members involved in the final moments of the vote, was played and replayed to illustrate questions posed by panel members.

 Panel members Reps. Steven LaTourette (R-Ohio) and Artur Davis (D-Ala.) were also present; Rep. Kenny Hulshof (R-Mo.), another panel member, did not attend the hearing.

Parliamentarian John Sullivan, who got into a “heated” exchange with Hoyer that night, said that while Hoyer was exerting pressure, he did not know whether McNulty’s decision was affected by it.

Pence also inquired as to what happened to a “tally slip,” a document of the final vote total that is usually passed to the chair, which, apparently, was never produced.

“I don’t remember … there may have well been a partially completed tally slip,” Kevin Hanrahan, a staff member with the Office of the Clerk, testified. “[I] never did … complete one [or] hand it in.”

In addition to Sullivan, parliamentarian staffers Ethan Lauer and Max Spitzer testified on Tuesday.

Michael Steel, a spokesman for House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), said, “It is a little surprising that the House Democratic leadership would bother to scrap this rule, since they have had no compunction about just breaking their promise and ignoring it, as they did most ironically on the ethics bill vote.”

A second hearing will convene Wednesday at 9:30 a.m.