Transphobe Club asks for do over in the name of hate...or cheating

A week ago I shared the news that two dozen republican members of the house refused to participate in the public transphobia of amending the Defense budget to remove medical treatment of transgender military troops.

That hasn't sat well with the GOP transphobic club who want to remove as much humanity as is possible from transgender people (see yesterday's post.)

So the Transphobe Club has asked Speaker Ryan to tuck the provision into a rules package governing the GOP’s appropriation legislation, ensuring it would become part of the text without another vote.

Does that seem fair to anyone?

If Ryan refuses that, they want a do over on the vote to amend.

The federal government has no business paying for that procedure. A lot of us feel very strongly about that, and we want a chance to have that in the bill.

--Rep. Mike Ragers (R-AL)

Several senior Republican sources predicted leadership would reject the plea to add the Hartzler amendment to a House rule — namely because it would circumvent regular order. It’s unclear whether they would allow a separate floor amendment on the proposal.

There’s concern that the pitch could sink the entire appropriations package by triggering centrist Republicans to bring down the rule. Moderates who opposed the amendment, including Tuesday Group leaders Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania and Elise Stefanik of New York, are pushing back against the revived effort. They’ve argued that the amendment, which opponents say discriminates against transgender individuals, shouldn’t be allowed on the floor again because it was already voted down.

Leadership should respect the will of the House — and that’s already been expressed. These transgender service-people are serving our country and have signed up and agreed to risk their lives for this country, so we want to honor that commitment as well.

--Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-FL)

[Hartzler] had her shot; she lost.

--Anonymous, representative

Defense Secretary James Mattis asked Congress not to interfere in the matter until he finished a review of the Obama-era policy and determines his own next steps. Supporters, however, say the military should not be spending money on gender-reassignment operations.

Supporters now think they could possibly see a different outcome if the amendment comes up again. They may be right: Six Republicans did not vote or were absent, including: Reps. Sam Johnson of Texas, Raúl Labrador of Idaho, Mark Sanford of South Carolina, David Valadao of California, Rodney Davis of Illinois and Steve Scalise of Louisiana who is still in the hospital recovering from a gun shot wound.

And poor freshman Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL) hasn't figured out the voting system yet and has said he voted "No" when he meant "Yes."

Share
up
0 users have voted.