Republicans Ignore The Constitution On The Day Of Its Reading
Two House Republicans have cast votes as members of the 112th Congress, but were not sworn in on Wednesday, a violation of the Constitution on the same day that the GOP had the document read from the podium.
The Republicans, incumbent Pete Sessions of Texas and freshman Mike Fitzpatrick, missed the swearing in because they were at a fundraiser in the Capitol Visitors Center. The pair watched the swearing-in on television from the Capitol Visitors Center with their hands raised.
Not only is this a violation of the Constitution, but the fundraising on Capital grounds is also a violation of House Rules. Think that’s enough? Well wait…there’s more! Pete Sessions sits on the House Rules Committee.
But it gets even better than that. Now the GOP leadership is trying to change the rules after the fact:
Republicans, led by Rules Committee chairman David Dreier, are now looking to draft a rule to allow the pair's TV oath to count, but it would have to be approved by unanimous consent, and there's no sign Democrats, who are looking to slow down next week's planned vote on a repeal of President Obama's health-care plan, are willing to play ball.
