Politics

Constitution reading accidentally omits passages

Jonathan Strong Jonathan Strong, 27, is a reporter for the Daily Caller covering Congress. Previously, he was a reporter for Inside EPA where he wrote about environmental regulation in great detail, and before that a staffer for Rep. Dan Lungren (R-CA). Strong graduated from Wheaton College (IL) with a degree in political science in 2006. He is a huge fan of and season ticket holder to the Washington Capitals hockey team. Strong and his wife reside in Arlington.
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As the House of Representatives made history Thursday by reading the Constitution aloud for the first time, ever, Virginia Republican Rep. Bob Goodlatte was watching his fellow lawmakers like a hawk to keep them on the correct sections of the text.

Alas, a lawmaker – it appears to have been Rep. Jarrold Nadler, top ranking Democrat on the Constitution Subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee – inadvertently turned over two pages instead of one.

The result was that the end of Article 4 and the beginning of Article 5 weren’t read aloud in the chamber.

“Once the problem was discovered Congressman Goodlatte went to Leadership,” said Goodlatte spokeswoman Kathryn Rexrode. “Congressman Goodlatte went to the floor around 3:15 and explained the situation. He then read the two pages and asked for them to be inserted in the proper place in the record.”

The mishap is rather harmless, especially since the reading was symbolic. But on a day when unforced errors seemed to be piling up for Republicans as they transfer into control of the House, the goof had to hurt.

Watch the video here at about 1:45.