A congresswoman from the Virgin Islands rose in the House during the speakership vote on Mike Johnson (R-LA) to protest the more than a century-long refusal of the House to give a vote on the floor to elected officials from U.S. territories.
"I note that the names of representatives from American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia were not called, representing, collectively, 4 million Americans," said Stacey Plaskett to broad applause from the Democratic side of the chamber. "Mr. Speaker, collectively, the largest per capita of veterans in this country."
"Does the gentlelady have a problem?" the presiding member asked.
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"I asked why they were not called," said Plaskett. "I asked why they were not called from the parliamentarian, please."
"Delegates-elect and the resident commissioner-elect are not qualified to vote," came the response. "Representatives-elect are the only individuals qualified to vote in the election of the speaker. As provided in Section 36 of the House rules and manual, the speaker is elected by a majority of the members-elect voting by surname."
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker," said Plaskett. "This body and this nation has a territory and a colonies problem. What was supposed to be temporary has now, effectively, become permanent. We must do something about this."
Ultimately, Johnson was elected speaker on the second ballot, with two rebellious Republicans flipping their votes at the urging of President-elect Donald Trump. Territorial delegates — who may have proved decisive had they been allowed to vote due to the historically narrow GOP House majority — were not given a say.
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