During a session of the House Committee on Natural Resources, Rep. Joe Neguse (D-Colorado) asked Committee Chairman, Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-Arkansas) if he opposes Neguse’s proposed amendment. Westerman wouldn’t respond.
Neguse asked the same question to Westerman’s Republican colleague, Rep. Pete Stauber (R-Minnesota), who also refused to answer the question. Even when Neguse reminded the Republicans that they are due to vote on the amendment in minutes — and that the record will show their votes — the two MAGA-aligned congressmen remained silent.
“The country is going to know your position,” Neguse reiterated.
“We are now in a position in which Republican colleagues are not allowed to say whether or not they support or oppose an amendment” — bizarre scenes at the House Committee on Natural Resources as Republicans refuse to engage with Joe Neguse’s questions & instead sit in silence pic.twitter.com/aa9SCiQtT5
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 6, 2025
Neguse laughed at the silence and yielded his time to Ranking Member Rep. Jared Huffman (D-California), who turned to Stauber and said: “I’m just wondering if the gentleman from Colorado can tell from this angle — Mr. Straub is working his phone there, his thumb is very nimble — do you think he’s playing Candy Crush or Minesweeper?”
Neguse said “I don’t know,” and added, “I have great respect for Mr. Stauber and for most of my friends on the other side of the aisle, and I have to imagine that they find this as absurd as I do.”
Neguse added, “We are now in a position in which Republican colleagues are not allowed to say whether or not they support or oppose an amendment…that’s how craven this process is.”
Before yielding his time again, Neguse asked the Chairman if there was a formal memo issued by Republican leadership telling members of Congress not to reveal their votes on amendments before voting, to which there was more silence. Neguse laughed and said, “A fascinating hearing, I’ve never seen anything quite like it.”
While many on X are replying to the hearing with comments including “That’s not democracy” and “This is concerning on many levels” — and the more vituperative “Maga Republicans are Spineless, Cowards, and they’re prettified by Trump and the maga cult” — a few MAGA supporters are defending the Republicans, including social media influencer Paul A. Szypula.
Szypula replied: “No one takes Democrat lawmakers seriously. Why would they?…The Democrat Party will soon stop existing. It’s just too unpopular.”