House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California confirmed Wednesday there will definitely be disciplinary action taken against Democrats who partook in the 26-hour gun-control protest on the House floor in late June.
Democrats staged the unprecedented sit-in in response to Republicans opting against bringing a measure, which failed in committee, requiring stronger background checks on those purchasing firearms.
“We continue to make sure we’ve gathered all the information,” McCarthy told The Daily Caller News Foundation. “We know the number of rules that were broken, we know that there are a number of members that broke those and had even gone beyond – the treatment of others on the floor, the intimidation that some have used – so we are working on the appropriate response to all of that, and that will be coming soon.”
The sergeant-at-arms confirmed acts of misconduct took place during a meeting with McCarthy and House Speaker Paul Ryan last week.
“I want to make sure the discipline matches the rules that were broken,” McCarthy said. “The punishment should match the crime.”
A GOP aide close to the situation told TheDCNF Republican leadership are considering several repercussion options and will continue discussions on the matter.
“We are not in a position yet to announce when or what the ramifications will be,” the source said, adding the announcement likely won’t come before the House recesses Friday. “The speaker’s point is this is a historic body that has a level of integrity that needs to be kept in terms of being able to process the American people’s priorities and work.”
Democratic Rep. John Larson of Connecticut — one of the leaders of the protest– acknowledged a number of rules were broken, but felt it was necessary to draw attention to the cause.
“We said look we fully appreciate that we are in full violation of the rules, but we hope they [GOP leadership] appreciate the incredible frustration on behalf of the American people and our constituents that we have sworn to serve, that in three-and-a-half years, since Sandy Hook, we haven’t had a vote,” he told TheDCNF. “And if their answer is, ‘well, the best we can do is punish you,’ well so be it.”
The timeline on when disciplinary action will be handed down is still being determined.
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