Reps. Jared Golden (D-ME) and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA) bucked Democratic leadership for the second time this month by crossing the aisle on a party-line vote.
The two centrist Democrats voted to support bringing a package of bills to the floor, including the Russia sanctions bill that passed the Senate with bipartisan support in August.
It’s the second time in as many weeks that the pair openly defied House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and Democratic leadership, after they sided with Republicans earlier this month, causing a major rift in the Democratic caucus.
Golden and Gluesenkamp Perez’s votes saved GOP leadership from another rule failure, as Republican holdouts seeking a deal on getting a bill on suspending the federal gas tax on the floor threatened to sink GOP leadership’s agenda.
The vote passed 214-211, with two Republican “no” votes from Reps. Andy Harris (R-MD) and Ralph Norman (R-SC).
Gluesenkamp Perez attributed her vote to her representation of a large Ukrainian population in her district, saying she will “always stand with my community’s values, and am grateful for the 86 senators who voted to send this bill to the house.”
“My vote today gets us one step closer to enacting these sanctions into law and I look forward to voting tomorrow to cut off the flow of Russian oil money fueling this war,” Gluesenkamp Perez posted on X.
A spokesperson for Golden similarly told Fox News that he has been a “consistent supporter of America’s allies in Ukraine.”
“He didn’t want to see the Russia sanctions bill die in a rule vote after passing with overwhelming bipartisan support in the Senate,” the spokesperson said.
Golden and Gluesenkamp Perez’s break will send ripple effects through the Democratic caucus and leadership, which is still reeling after the pair supported bringing a bill to condemn socialism and the Democratic Socialists of America to the floor two weeks ago.
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At the time, Jeffries called their votes a “significant breach of trust,” and Democratic leadership called for a “serious response” to the defections. But no reprimand for the defections has been announced.
The Washington Examiner has reached out to Golden for comment.