{"id":2391493,"date":"2025-01-17T05:50:02","date_gmt":"2025-01-17T10:50:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/attendance-is-mandatory-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2025-01-17T05:53:36","modified_gmt":"2025-01-17T10:53:36","slug":"attendance-is-mandatory-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/attendance-is-mandatory-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Attendance is mandatory &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">12<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fattendance-is-mandatory-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2391493&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article discusses the precarious situation\u200d for House Republicans, \u200bwho hold a slim majority of 217-215 in a 435-member chamber. With critical\u200d votes looming, both parties need all their members present to ensure legislative success. Notably, several Democratic lawmakers have faced health issues\u200d leading to significant absences, which complicates the \u2063balance of\u200b power. The Democrats&#8217; ability to oppose\u2064 Republican legislation hinges on full attendance, highlighting the importance of members like Dwight Evans,\u2062 Raul Grijalva, and David Scott,\u2063 who \u200dhave struggled with health problems. The\u200d absence of these members could weaken Democratic opposition and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mike-johnson-squeaks-by-speaker-election-with-bare-majority\/\" title=\"Mike Johnson Squeaks By Speaker Election With Bare Majority\">impact legislative outcomes<\/a>, \u200bespecially as \u2062the Republican majority continues to grapple with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/house-plans-vote-to-advance-3-5t-budget-despite-moderates-jeopardizing-its-passage\/\" title=\"House Plans Vote To Advance .5T Budget Despite Moderates Jeopardizing Its Passage\">internal divisions<\/a>.The article\u2063 also touches on the broader implications of these absences, including changes \u2064in committee assignments and the potential for \u200cyounger members \u200brising to prominence within \u200cthe party due to the senior\u2063 members\u2019 frequent non-attendance.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">House Republicans&rsquo; slim majority means both parties need everybody to show up for votes<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1617172\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>Let&rsquo;s stipulate that all decent people, whatever their political views, wish good health and longevity to Reps. Dwight Evans (D-PA), <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/live-blog-posts\/rep-raul-grijalva-becomes-second-sitting-member-of-congress-to-call-on-biden-to-exit-race\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Raul Grijalva (D-AZ)<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/energy-and-environment\/3016753\/democrats-consider-booting-top-farm-bill-negotiator-1-5-trillion-plan\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">David Scott (D-GA)<\/a>. More practically, Democrats need those three lawmakers and others who recently missed strings of votes due to health-related matters to be present and voting whenever the House is in session.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>That&rsquo;s due to the extraordinarily tight House majority Republicans hold. House Republicans, for the next three months or so, can afford virtually no defections. That&rsquo;s a tall political order for a party divided on issues including immigration, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/glenn-h-reynolds-stagflation-is-staring-biden-in-the-face-but-he-refuses-to-change-course\/\" title=\"Glenn H. Reynolds: Stagflation Is Staring Biden in the Face \u2014 But He Refuses to Change Course\">slashing federal spending<\/a>, and how to construct legislation extending <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">President Donald Trump&rsquo;s<\/a> signature domestic issue during his first, nonconsecutive term, the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.<\/p>\n<p>However, House Democrats&rsquo; chances of denying legislative wins to Republicans only work if all Democrats show up to vote against GOP bills. This highlights the House Democratic trio, who missed significant votes in 2024 due to various physical ailments and illnesses.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-full is-resized\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Clockwise: Rep. David Scott (D-GA), Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), Rep. Dwight Evans (D-PA), and Former Rep. Kay Granger (R-TX).  (Bill O&rsquo;Leary\/The Washington Post via AP; J. Scott Applewhite\/AP; Alex Brandon\/AP; J. Scott Applewhite\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Republicans are about to hold a short-term 217-215 majority in the 435-member House. The 119th Congress opened with one absence, in Florida&rsquo;s Pensacola-area 1st Congressional District, where former Rep. Matt Gaetz quit the House on Nov. 13, 2024, in a futile attempt to win Senate confirmation as the Trump administration&rsquo;s attorney general. The deep-red seat will be filled after an April 1 special election.<\/p>\n<p>There are now current or looming vacancies because Trump plucked two other GOP House members for administration posts &mdash; former Rep. Mike Waltz, of Florida&rsquo;s 6th Congressional District, covering Daytona Beach to Palm Coast and inland areas; and former House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik, in New York&rsquo;s 21st Congressional District, encompassing the North Country and parts of the Albany area. Both seats should easily stay Republican when filled by special elections in a few months.<\/p>\n<p>Until then, though, with such a small GOP majority in place, House whips of both parties will come to resemble high school hall monitors as much as elected officials. Whips, tasked by party leaders with in-advance vote-counting, must ensure all of their party members show up. Or that they don&rsquo;t show up, in the rare case a House member votes against his party&rsquo;s bill and legislative maneuvers, effectively helping the opposition.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A political gerontocracy<\/h2>\n<p>So far in the 119th Congress, much media attention has focused on House Republicans&rsquo; obligation to keep their members showing up to vote. That&rsquo;s understandable because they run the show in the House, and internal GOP divisions frequently flare up, with the House Freedom Caucus proving a constant irritant and even threat to Republican leadership&rsquo;s legislative plans, from the right.<\/p>\n<p>Yet serial House Democratic absences also are worth keeping an eye on because, by definition, they have, at times, shrunk House Democratic ranks when their party couldn&rsquo;t afford it.<\/p>\n<p>Evans was the second-most absent member of Congress in 2024. Evans, 70, missed nearly 63% of votes after suffering a stroke in May. He won reelection after running unopposed in Pennsylvania&rsquo;s 3rd Congressional District, which covers West, Northwest, and Center City Philadelphia.<\/p>\n<p>Frequent absences also recently played a role in Democrats bucking their vaunted seniority system for House committee assignments. Relatively younger members have leapfrogged their elders to claim top spots for minority-party lawmakers on House committees, known as ranking members.<\/p>\n<p>Grijalva, 76, in December 2024 announced his intention to step down as ranking member of the House Natural Resources Committee and was replaced by Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA), 60. Grijalva stepped away from his duties last spring to undergo treatment for an unspecified form of cancer.&nbsp;In 2024, he missed 455 votes, roughly 88% of those taken in the House that year. Grijalva, representing Arizona&rsquo;s 7th Congressional District in the southwestern part of the state and western Tucson area, has said this current term will be his last.<\/p>\n<p>Scott, too, reluctantly gave up a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/psaki-touts-major-sign-of-generational-change-for-democrats-as-party-battles-for-leadership-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"Psaki touts \u2018major sign of generational change\u2019 for Democrats as party battles for leadership - Washington Examiner\">ranking member spot<\/a> on the House Agriculture Committee. Scott, 79, lost an internal House Democratic fight for the position to Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN), 52.<\/p>\n<p>Scott&rsquo;s missed House votes only spanned a couple of weeks but came at an inopportune time. That is, right after the Nov. 5 elections, when he did not immediately return to Washington while receiving treatment for his ailing back in an Atlanta-area rehabilitation facility. That was just the time of maximum internal policing among House Democrats, in the wake of the summer 2024 departure from the White House race by then-President Joe Biden, 82, due to age-related concerns. That was followed by Trump&rsquo;s defeat of the replacement Democratic presidential nominee, then-Vice President Kamala Harris.<\/p>\n<p>None of this is meant to single out House Democrats for opprobrium on missed votes. The most egregious case of an absentee House member emerged late in the last session of Congress, with retiring Rep. Kay Granger, a Texas Republican. The now 82-year-old was found to be living in a Fort Worth-area retirement facility while dealing with dementia-related problems.<\/p>\n<p>The&nbsp;<em>Dallas Express&nbsp;<\/em>reported that the&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/texas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Texas<\/a>&nbsp;congresswoman had been found at a memory care unit and assisted living home, based on a tip from a constituent. Granger&rsquo;s son, Brandon Granger, told the&nbsp;<em>New York Post<\/em>&nbsp;that his mother made&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2024\/12\/22\/us-news\/the-true-story-behind-texas-rep-kay-grangers-disappearance-from-dc\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">her own decision<\/a>&nbsp;to move into the retirement community, though she has since shown signs of dementia over the past three months.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>News of Granger&rsquo;s condition <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/3269229\/kay-granger-absence-house-tops-off-key-leader-age-concerns-2024\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">capped a year<\/a> of public discontent over <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">older political leaders clinging<\/a> to power even in the face of glaring health concerns that people on both sides of the aisle believe signal a need for change.<\/p>\n<p>With Trump now ensconced back in the Oval Office, House Republicans will need to make sure all their members show up to help push his legislative agenda into law. House Democrats will want to make sure all their members are there to oppose the big-ticket items. Health checks will be the norm for both sides, with party leaders stressing to rank-and-file lawmakers that perhaps for the first time since high school, their attendance is mandatory.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1617172\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1617172\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>House Republicans&#8217; narrow majority requires full attendance for votes<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2695,"featured_media":2391494,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/WB.Congress.Main_.012225.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[13904,18094,3986,4133,4086],"class_list":["post-2391493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-attendance","tag-examiner","tag-mandatory","tag-news","tag-washington"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/WB.Congress.Main_.012225.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2391493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2695"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2391493"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2391493\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2391497,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2391493\/revisions\/2391497"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2391494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2391493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2391493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2391493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}