Politics

Rep. Andrew Clyde Says GOP Leadership Threatened Him For Opposing Debt Ceiling Hike

Screenshot via Twitter/amrenewcitizen

Michael Ginsberg Congressional Correspondent
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Republican Georgia Rep. Andrew Clyde said Friday that GOP leadership threatened to prevent consideration of a bill he sponsored if he opposed a rule on legislation raising the debt ceiling.

“I was called about 12:30 or so on Wednesday and I was told by leadership that if I didn’t vote for the rule, that it would be very difficult to bring my bill to the floor,” Clyde told War Room host Steve Bannon. “Remember the bill that I have is H.J. Res. 44. This is the pistol brace rule. This is a bill that takes down the over-reach of the ATF. The ATF is trying to become Congress and create a law that they don’t have the authority to create.”

Clyde voted twice against the Fiscal Responsibility Act, which suspends the debt ceiling into January 2025. It passed the House on Wednesday with the support of 165 Democrats and 149 Republicans, and the Senate on Thursday. (RELATED: The House Just Passed The Fiscal Responsibility Act. Here’s What’s In It)

“This entire process has brazenly violated the power-sharing agreement with the Speaker we made in January,” Clyde said in a statement explaining his opposition. “All amendments, including mine, were rejected in favor of a closed rule—breaching our agreement and stripping our voices from the process.”

Clyde introduced his pistol brace resolution on May 17, outside the 60-day window that would have required the House to take it up as a privileged resolution. It must go through the House Rules Committee, which is stacked with allies of Speaker Kevin McCarthy. The Rules Committee decides which bills receive consideration on the House floor, giving it the power to kill legislation.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives finalized a rule in January redefining pistols with braces attached as short barrel rifles. Users would then have to register them with the federal government. The Biden administration is facing multiple lawsuits seeking to overturn it, and a federal circuit court has already issued an injunction against the rule.