House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-MA) said “team players” should get top committee spots after Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA) bucked Democratic leadership for the second time this month by crossing the aisle on a party-line vote.
“The American people know we’re focused on them and that means we need team players who are all in on driving down the costs for Americas and it’s team players, people who are helping our caucus be successful on behalf of the American people, who should be sitting on exclusive committees,” Clark responded when asked if the two defections should be able to sit on exclusive committees.
The battleground Washington Democrat holds a seat on the House Appropriations Committee, which oversees federal spending, giving her a plush spot to fight for funding for her state and district.
Clark, the No. 2 House Democrat and a top lieutenant of Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), said she got a heads-up from Gluesenkamp Perez ahead of the vote that she would vote with Republicans on Tuesday, something she didn’t do when she broke with her fellow Democratic colleagues weeks prior.
Gluesenkamp Perez was joined by Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME) in both instances, which advanced Republican-led bills to the House floor. The two centrist Democrats voted Tuesday to bring a package of bills to the floor, including the Russia sanctions bill that passed the Senate with bipartisan support in August.
READ THOMAS MASSIE’S EIGHT IMPEACHMENT CHARGES AGAINST PETE HEGSETH
Earlier this month, the pair sided with Republicans to force a vote on condemning socialism and the Democratic Socialists of America. For the defection, they were criticized by fellow Democrats, including Jeffries. The Democratic caucus has been weighing whether to dole out punishment for either defection.
Jeffries on Wednesday would not say if he agreed with Clark’s suggestion on committee assignments, telling reporters he’d have “more to say about the situation when I have more to say about the situation.”
Hailey Bullis contributed to this report.