Typically, all the members of the majority party in the House of Representatives vote for the rule to bring legislation to the House floor for debate, even if some of those members plan to vote against the legislation after the floor debate. Meanwhile, minority party House members typically all vote against the rule. But, on occasion, some majority party members think there is something wrong enough with legislation or the process by which leadership is seeking to bring the legislation to the House floor that they rebel, voting “no” on the rule.
Such rebellious votes can make a point. They seldom, though, prevent a bill from reaching the House floor. But, when the majority party’s margin is small, a few rebellious members in the majority party joining the minority party’s unanimous opposition to a rule can prevent a bill from reaching the floor. That is what happened Tuesday when several Republican members, for various reasons, voted “no” on the rule for consideration of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
The NDAA rule vote having failed, no House final vote can take place on this bill concerning military policy and spending unless a rule for the bill is first approved after the House returns from recess on July 13. In a Tuesday Kucinich Report article, former House member Dennis Kucinich — a Ron Paul Institute Advisory Board member — along with his coauthor wife Elizabeth Kucinich provided an explanation of how a Republican members rebellion stopped the vote this week on the NDAA. The NDAA, they further wrote, would, among other things, make a mammoth increase in the US government’s military spending and merge the US and Israel militaries. Read their article here.
