House Democrats broke a number of rules during their “unprecedented” sit-in on gun control, including fundraising from the floor and damaging furniture, and discipline is likely on the way, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy told The Daily Caller News Foundation.
McCarthy said his meeting Wednesday afternoon with House Speaker Paul Ryan and the sergeant at arms confirmed several acts of misconduct. Democrats staged the sit-in, which lasted more than 24 hours, after Republicans opted not to vote on a gun-control measure that failed in committee. The protest broke several House rules, which the GOP said they will continue to investigate.
“Some of the actions were confirmed by some of the reports … There was damage to furniture, members pulling papers out of the hands of the professional staff within there, there was fundraising going on the floor – there were a number of things that broke the rules,” McCarthy told TheDCNF. “We looked at different options on how to deal with this.”
The California Republican said they are still weighing what disciplinary action to take.
House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland said he did not witness disrespectful behavior from members of his party.
“I saw neither abuse of staff, and I was on the floor for a significant part of the time, nor did I see and damage to furniture,” he told reporters. “What furniture? I didn’t see damaged furniture – you can go to the House floor and look at it, see if you see damaged furniture. I did see, honestly, staff say ‘you shouldn’t do that’ and members not responding to staff, but sometimes my staff tells me not to do things, but I do them anything.”
A GOP aide told TheDCNF, while there is no formal investigation, lawmakers will continue their effort to gather information on what transpired. Republicans have repeatedly slammed the protest as a publicity stunt, stressing similar acts of conduct should not be tolerated in the future.
“We’re a democracy and there are different ways to debate ideas, and that was not one of them,” McCarthy said. “The House has a long history, when people break rules there are responsibilities and actions taken, and I expect the same thing will go forward on this as well.”
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