In a sign of the frayed nerves on Capitol Hill on the first day of the government shutdown, a House Democrat forced a vote on whether a Republican’s poster adhered to the chamber’s rules.
Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-Ala.) tried to speak on the House floor next to a red poster featuring an old quote from Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) in 2013 stating that a shutdown is the “politics of idiocy, of confrontation, of paralysis.”
But Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-Colo.) interrupted, arguing that the poster is “disparaging to a member of the Senate.”
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The presiding officer, Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.), then inspected the poster and ruled that it abided by House rules.
Perlmutter then tried to appeal the ruling, demanding a roll call vote.
The House voted 224-173 to uphold Womack’s ruling, with two Democrats voting “present.” Six Democrats voted with Republicans to support the ruling that the poster was in order.
Once the vote finished, Byrne tried to resume his speech pinning blame on Senate Democrats for the shutdown. But House Democrats kept interrupting him.
Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) alleged that Byrne’s remarks were out of order when he referenced House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) comments earlier in the week describing a House-passed spending bill as “doggy doo.”
House proceedings briefly halted for a few minutes as leaders of both parties huddled near the center of the floor.
Eventually, Lewis, a civil rights icon, relented and withdrew his objection.
“We all need to be a little more human, a little more patient, and in order to have civility among all of us, I withdraw my objection,” Lewis said.