Meet The 7 House GOP Cowards Who Flipped Their Votes To Allow LGBT Discrimination

Last updated on September 25th, 2023 at 02:48 pm

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A measure that would have ensured protections for the LGBT community in the NDAA had the votes to pass until Republican House leaders kept the vote open past the deadline and convinced seven gutless GOP cowards to flip their votes and defeat the amendment.

House Democratic Whip Rep. Steny Hoyer’s office put together a Star Wars style video documenting the betrayal of the LGBT community:

When the clock hit zero on the two-minute vote, the amendment protecting the rights of LGBT workers was leading 217-206. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) kept the vote open until a group of seven Republicans flipped their votes to no, and the result was a 212-213 defeat.

The group of 7 Republicans included Reps. Jeff Denham (CA), Darrell Issa (CA), Bruce Poliquin (ME), David Valadao (CA), Greg Walden (OR), Mimi Walters (CA) and David Young (IA).

After the vote Democratic Whip Hoyer called out the seven on the House floor:

According to Rep. Hoyer, the seven didn’t have the guts to publicly change their votes, “Today, House Republicans defeated an amendment by Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney that would ensure that federal contractors cannot discriminate against LGBT employees. Several Republican Members initially cast votes in favor of Rep. Maloney’s amendment but shamefully changed their votes after it was clear the amendment would pass, leading the amendment to fail by just a single vote. Not only did they vote against equality and inclusion, but those who switched their votes did not even have the courage to do so openly in the well of the House. They did so quietly from the back benches, contrary to established practice that requires vote-switching to be done in person at the Clerk’s desk, and House Republican leaders held a two-minute vote open for nearly eight minutes.”

These seven don’t belong in Congress. They lacked the necessary courage to be responsible for their own votes. The House has been a dysfunctional pit ever since Republicans took back the majority, but the stunt that was pulled today represented a new deplorable low.

The Deplorable 7 knew what they were doing was morally wrong, which is why they tried to keep their votes a secret. These seven Republicans don’t belong in Congress, and here’s hoping that voters in their districts ship them off to the unemployment line in November.

Jason Easley

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