Reports are circulating that the Senate police have been moved to the House to potentially forcibly remove the Democratic protesters who are occupying the House of Representatives.
Matt Laslo tweeted an eyewitness view of Capitol Police gathering:
Confirmed: Just peaked inside room full of officers on 1st floor of Capitol (pic coming) https://t.co/NJUzfXaRWu
— Matt Laslo (@MattLaslo) June 23, 2016
To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.
Would Paul Ryan really send the police on to the House floor to forcibly remove civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis in handcuffs? Surely, Ryan can’t be that arrogant and stupid.
Then again, Speaker Ryan is the same man who lectured Rep. Lewis on “publicity stunts:”
Retweet if you agree → The sit-in by House Democrats is nothing more than a publicity stunt. #StopTheStunthttps://t.co/YGgl2yLHyB
— Paul Ryan (@SpeakerRyan) June 22, 2016
Hopefully, Republicans aren’t that dumb, but these are the same House Republicans who have been losing to President Obama for years because they keep fooling themselves into thinking that he will cave. House Republican leadership told the press that they hoped to take back the House floor and vote between 9-9:30 PM ET. It is now after 9:30 and the Democratic protest is still going strong.
Before they resort to calling in the cops, Republicans may turn the lights and air conditioning off on the protesters:
Rep. Tom Cole told me that after the House votes to adjourn tonight, the lights and AC may turn off.
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) June 23, 2016
Republicans now say that they will try to take back the House floor at 10 PM ET. If they fail, things could be messy in a hurry.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association