An amendment penalising companies that discriminate against LGBT individuals has failed in the United States.
An amendment to ban discriminatory companies from being contracted by the government and receiving taxpayer money failed in the United States The amendment was introduced by Representative Sean Patrick Maloney, a Democrat from New York, and was a response to the House passing a major defense bill that would reverse an executive order that protects LGBT employees from discrimination.
It originally appeared that the amendment would pass 217-206 but the numbers changed at the last minute to 212-213. Outrage erupted after the amendment failed, with many members chanting “shame, shame, shame,” and accusations that Republican leaders pressured other members to change their votes.
Visibly upset members spoke out about the decision.
Whip Steny Hoyer, a House Democrat from Maryland, said on the floor, “I was standing in the well and no one came and no one had the courage to come into the well to change their vote, but notwithstanding that, the vote kept changing. Mr. Speaker, from a parliamentary perspective, how is that possible?”
Maloney spoke out against the House Majority Leader, saying, “Kevin McCarthy was personally twisting arms on the floor. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything that craven and that ugly in my time in Congress.”
He also told reporters that when he approached McCarthy and asked him to conclude the vote, Maloney was told to “get back on my own side” of the room. It was confirmed that the vote was originally scheduled to last two minutes but actually stayed open for 8 minutes, allowing for people to change their votes without others knowing.
29 Republicans did not change their votes, remaining supportive of the amendment.
Democratic Rep. Mark Takano of California said he was disappointed by the results. He said that after the vote, Illinois Republican Rep. Bob Dold said what happened was “bullshit.” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said, “House Republicans are so committed to discriminating against LGBT Americans that they broke regular order to force their Members to reverse their votes and support Republicans’ bigotry.” Many members quickly started comparing the House to GOP presidential hopeful Donald Trump, with tweets similar to Rep. Dan Kildee’s saying, “House GOP shows their true colors. They support hate and are one in the same with their leader @realDonaldTrump.