Votes of GOP lawmakers who missed swearing-in ruled invalid

By Felicia Sonmez

The votes cast during the first days of the congressional session by two Republican lawmakers who skipped Wednesday's swearing-in ceremony will be invalidated, House Rules Committee Chairman David Dreier (R-Calif.) said Thursday.

Dreier made the announcement at a meeting of the Rules Committee after it became clear that Reps. Pete Sessions (R-Texas) and Mike Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) had cast votes during the first two days of the 112th Congress despite having not technically been sworn into office.

According to a report in The Hill, GOP leaders became aware that Sessions and Fitzpatrick had missed Wednesday's swearing-in after a photo surfaced of the two lawmakers reciting the oath in front of a television screen at the Capitol Visitors Center.

"Yesterday, at the time the oath of office was administered, Congressman Fitzpatrick was in the Capitol Building meeting with constituents from Pennsylvania's 8th Congressional District," Fitzpatrick spokesperson Darren Smith said. "He took the oath of office at that time. When the oath was administered, Congressman Fitzpatrick had already signed the written oath of office provided by the Clerk of the House. Today, after speaking with the House Parliamentarian, out of an abundance of caution, Congressman Fitzpatrick was re-administered the oath of office by the Speaker. The public record will be adjusted accordingly."

A spokesperson for Sessions confirmed that the congressman took the oath on the floor Thursday.

Fitzpatrick told the Bucks County Courier Times, which was present when he and Sessions were meeting with supporters during the swearing-in, that their televised "oath-taking" was an impromptu one.

"That wasn't planned," Fitzpatrick said. "It just worked out that way."

Since Wednesday's swearing-in, the House has passed a new rules package, held a live reading of the Constitution and approved a five-percent cut in committee and legislative office operating budgets.

Democrats seized on the incident as evidence that Republicans "can't get their house in order."

"When Congressmen-elect Pete Sessions and Mike Fitzpatrick participated in reading parts of the U.S. Constitution on the House floor, Speaker Boehner should have given them Article 6 which requires Members of Congress to be sworn in," Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesperson Jennifer Crider said. "Republicans have spent a lot of time over the past two days proselytizing about House rules, but they don't seem very keen on actually following the rules."