House Democrats dealt South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson a formal rebuke. Resolution of disapproval passed

House Democrats dealt South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson a formal rebuke Tuesday, taking the rare step of passing a resolution of disapproval for his famous “You lie!” outburst last week in the House chamber.

The vote was 240-179, falling almost exclusively along party lines.


While Democrats said they were defending the rules of the House and enforcing the traditional decorum of the chamber, Republicans mounted a fierce attack on the resolution, saying it was a waste of time after Wilson had duly apologized to President Barack Obama for his outburst during a joint address to Congress. While a resolution of disapproval is little more than a slap on the wrist, a formal roll call vote like this — permanently entered into the Congressional Record — is extremely rare.

“What’s at issue here is of importance to the House and of importance to the country,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) proclaimed during the hourlong debate preceding the vote. “This House cannot stay silent.”

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who initially opposed such a rebuke, stayed out of the debate and did not speak on the House floor. And many Democrats indicated that they were ready to move on from this strange chapter in congressional politics.

Wilson himself was defiant to the end, calling the action unnecessary and a waste of time. He also used his floor speech to criticize the Democratic health care plans and government spending in general.

“The challenges this country faces are greater than any member of this House,” Wilson told a packed chamber.

Twelve Democrats voted no on the resolution, and seven Republicans voted yes. Five Democrats voted “present.”

Wilson’s Republican leaders came to his defense during the debate, accusing Democrats of engaging in a political game.

“I think this is a sad day for the House of Representatives,” said Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio). “I think this is a political stunt aimed at distracting the American people from what they really care about, which is health care.”

“There’s been behavior in this chamber that’s more serious than this,” said Boehner. “None of it required a resolution.”

“Last Wednesday was not a good day for the House. But today is worse,” said House Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence of Indiana.

Democrats defended the move, saying that Wilson had violated the House’s rules of decorum and needed a formal reprimand.

“This is about the rules of the House,” said House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), who took the lead in bringing the resolution to the floor.

But the Democratic rhetoric during the debate was far cooler than the racial overtones the party had evoked in the hours leading up to the vote.

“I think there was a racial element,” said Rep. Steve Cohen, who is white but represents a heavily black Tennessee district. “I’d be sad if any Democrats voted no, and I feel saddened for the Republicans that will vote no.”

Rep. Hank Johnson, a Georgia Democrat and member of the Congressional Black Caucus, took to CNN to declare, “We will have people with white hoods running through the countryside again.”

Hoyer had signaled in an afternoon news conference that the resolution would lack the kind of biting language some had initially expected, saying that he didn’t think Wilson’s comments were made with any racial connotations and that leaders wanted to rebuke Wilson, but not dramatically, given his immediate apology.

Clyburn today bristled at the notion that he was playing politics with the resolution.

“This is not a political stunt. I do not participate in political stunts. And I think every member here knows that,” Clyburn said.

In the hours leading up to the vote, Wilson gave little indication that he had any plans to apologize for his outburst last week.

Instead, he launched into a speech defending his criticisms, saying that during the August recess, he had seen unrelenting opposition to Obama’s health care reform push from constituents.

“These were passionate events full of honest patriots,” Wilson said.

As he sat in the chamber awaiting the start of the vote, Wilson nervously wrote notes on a sheet of white paper. He also chatted with two of his Republican colleagues, Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington and Candice Miller of Michigan, at one point reaching into his jacket pocket and handing them what appeared to be pieces of hard candy.

As the vote was set to begin, Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.) walked over and put his arm around Wilson.

Republican leadership aides said that Wilson had not asked for members to be whipped to vote against the resolution and that there was little expectation of party unity in the final vote.

And while this was mostly a partisan affair, the resolution revealed a deep split between Wilson and his South Carolina colleague, Rep. Bob Inglis, who voted in favor of the resolution.

“Part 1: Joe Wilson apologized to President. Part 2: He should apologize to House for rule violation. That would end the matter,” Inglis wrote on his Twitter account earlier in the day. “Joe Wilson analogy: I speed, lose control of my car and hit your car. Part 1: I fix your car. Part 2: I pay my speeding ticket. Case closed.”

But as the vote cleared, Democratic supporters of the bill appeared ready to move on from the incident, which has supplanted health care reform in the headlines for the past week.

“Today’s resolution is an opportunity for us to come together and reject incivility,” said CBC Chairwoman Barbara Lee. “Let’s turn the page.”