Democratic sit-in over gun vote disrupts House

(Bloomberg) — Democrats closed out a marathon sit-in on the U.S. House floor Thursday afternoon after 25 hours of emotionally charged speeches demanding action on gun control, but they insisted their protests would continue in other forms.

“We are going to win the struggle. We’re going to win big,” Rep. John Lewis of Georgia, a leader of the protest, said in closing out the sit-in Thursday afternoon. “We must never, ever give up and never give in.”

“We must come back here on July 5th, more determined than ever before,” he said.

Speaker Paul Ryan, who declared an early start to the week-long recess, said Thursday morning that the sit-in wouldn’t change how Republicans run the House, dismissing it as a “publicity stunt” that risks setting a dangerous precedent for American democracy.

But Democrats, who were demanding votes on two gun-related measures in the wake of the Orlando shooting where 40 people were killed in a gay nightclub, galvanized their supporters with an unusually intimate view of the House floor broadcast on television from lawmakers’ mobile phones. Even as Democrats vacated the House floor, they insisted the protest would continue in some form through the House’s return on July 5.

“Absolutely it was a success,” Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the No. 2 Democrat, said Thursday. “They ran.”

“The protest is going to last,” Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina told reporters Thursday afternoon. “It will take different forms.”

The Democratic sit-in interrupted a planned debate on a spending bill that funds the Treasury Department and other agencies, as well as another vote on H.R. 1270, a package that could change the toughen the rules governing Affordable Care Act exchange plan subsidy users who receive excess premium tax credit subsidy help and increase the health savings account deduction limits.

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Late Wednesday, Ryan gaveled the House back into session and unsuccessfully tried to override President Barack Obama’s veto of a bill that would block the administration’s recently issued rules for brokers who handle retirement accounts. The tally was 239-180, short of the two-thirds majority needed to override the veto.

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Ryan made clear Thursday that he would not relent on Democratic demands, saying Democrats were exploiting the issue for fundraising purposes and that there is a well-established process for considering legislation.

“We do so within the bounds of order and respect for the system,” Ryan told reporters. “Otherwise, it all falls apart.”

On the Senate side, Republican Susan Collins of Maine said Thursday that Republican leaders were preparing to hold a procedural vote on her gun compromise proposal, which is aimed at preventing suspected terrorists from purchasing guns. The vote would be aimed at killing her proposal, but she said she is hopeful that a majority of the the Senate would reject that effort.

Hasty Adjournment

Early Thursday, after it became clear that House Democrats intended to continue their sit-in indefinitely, Ryan hastily closed down the House after 3 a.m. His action came nearly 16 hours after Democrats rebelled over a lack of action on gun-control legislation by staging a 1960s-style sit-in on the House floor. The protest continued before a largely empty chamber, but the mobile-phone footage of the debate drew wide attention.

Ryan said Republican leaders are looking at all options to decide how to prevent Democrats from shutting down House business and bringing some “order out of this chaos. “

“This is not a proud moment for democracy or the people who started these protests,” he said, adding that leaders were “reviewing everything” to see if any penalties were warranted for the sit-in.

Ongoing Action

House Democrats are demanding votes on legislation establishing background checks on gun sales, and a ban on firearms sales to those on the government’s “no-fly” list of suspected terrorists. Both are long-gridlocked measures they say could gain traction in the wake of this month’s mass shooting at an Orlando gay nightclub that left 49 dead.

“We will continue to shed a bright light on the urgency of stopping this carnage,” Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, of California, said Thursday morning. She vowed to keep up the protest throughout the recess, which ends July 5. “We will not stop until we pass that legislation.”

The Senate this week is negotiating over its own compromise proposal aimed at keeping guns out of the hands of suspected terrorists as it debates a spending bill that includes funding for the Justice Department. Four other gun-related amendments were defeated on the Senate floor Monday.

Early Thursday morning, Ryan quickly pushed through the House a top legislative priority, a spending bill that includes funding to combat the Zika virus. Yet the rebellion by Democrats took the spotlight off that vote, as well as Ryan’s ongoing effort to roll out a six-part election-year agenda that Republicans in the chamber can campaign on this fall.

Ryan on Wednesday released a long-awaited Republican alternative plan to Obamacare, just as the protest was getting underway, and on Friday will detail a set of changes to the U.S. tax code, which hasn’t been overhauled in 15 years.

Demanding action

The protest began shortly before noon Wednesday. Dozens of lawmakers were joined by a parade of Senate Democrats to demand action to keep guns out of the hands of suspected terrorists in the aftermath of the shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida.

As the night wore on, the scene on the floor became heated after Republican Louie Gohmert of Texas confronted Democrat Brad Sherman of California, who was speaking at the time. Gesturing toward Democrats, Gohmert yelled, “Radical Islam killed these people!”

Pelosi asked her caucus on the floor earlier Wednesday evening whether Democrats should continue their protest even if Republicans try to hold votes. Democrats yelled back, “Stay! Stay! Stay!”

“It will last as long as it needs,” Pelosi told reporters Wednesday.

Setting precedents

Oklahoma Republican Tom Cole said he hopes Speaker Paul Ryan “doesn’t give an inch” to the Democratic sit-in to force gun-control votes because doing so would set a precedent for future disruptions of the House.

The protest ground House proceedings to a halt for most of the day, delaying votes on several measures and putting Republicans on the defensive over an issue that has taken on added significance in an election year. Democrats were demanding a vote on a measure that would bar suspected terrorists on the “no-fly” list from being able to purchase guns.

Zika funding

They also adopted, 239-171, a conference agreement negotiated by House and Senate Republicans that includes funding to tackle the Zika virus. But Democrats and the White House have rejected the measure, calling the funding insufficient and blasting several provisions they claim are partisan and unacceptable.