Christiane Amanpour
What a start to the 16th installment of Sim. Cong. The chamber was clearly divided with Democrats seated to the left of the chamber and Republicans to the right. Several chairs separated the parties, cutting through the center.
The first floor session began with both parties nominating their leaders for the House Speakership; Democratic Representative Hakeem Jeffries (Xander Kane) and Republican Representative Steve Scalise (Ryan Sadaghiani) rose from their seats upon their nominations and joined Biden’s Policy Advisor, Pete Buttigieg (Anna Lynn), at the front of the room. Mr. Buttigeg began a roll call vote to elect the Speaker of the House. The vote commenced as expected with each party voting for their leader, until Mr. Buttigeg called for Washington’s seventh district. Representative Pramila Jayapal (Arsh Goyal) responded “Scalise.” This slip-up caused momentary commotion from both parties as well as lobbyists and the press in the back of the chamber. It was quickly resolved and the vote continued. However, Representative Jayapal’s miss-vote was not the most appalling act from the Democratic Party.
When Representative Ilhan Omar (Bilel Harrat) firmly voted for the Republican nominee for House Speaker, members of his party immediately began mocking him as cheers erupted from the right side of the chamber. Representative Jeffries shook his head from the top of the chamber, sharing a look with Mr. Buttigeg. Murmurs continued around the room as the vote came to an end. The Representative from Louisiana won 19-15 and was sworn in by Democratic Representative Diana DeGette (Renee Gangwish) from Colorado.
Though the vote was over, the drama was not.
President Biden (Cole Hendrickx) entered the chamber to deliver the State of the Union, shaking the hands of his party members while making his way down the aisle, avoiding Representative Omar. Moments after President Biden closed with, “God Bless the United States of America,” members of the press rushed to the Democratic party seeking answers for the ununified front they had presented only days after pledging their party loyalty at the cocktail party. Representative Omar privately shared his reasoning behind his vote, and his thoughts on President Biden’s address.
“I don’t agree with Hakeem Jeffries' [foreign policy] agenda…that is all.” Why would Representative Omar’s party loyalty waver on account of one policy area? When Minority Leader Jeffries was asked this, he responded he was aware of the policy disagreement. “However, as I told Representative Omar, I feel that despite our differences, our core beliefs and aspirations in the international sphere are far more aligned than that of the Republicans…especially Steve Scalise.” Despite this setback, Minority Leader Jeffries does not foresee this being an issue down the road and respects Representative Omar’s stance on what he believes in.
We’re not quite done. Little did most of the present members know, Representative Omar was busy writing his own statement while President Biden addressed Congress.
“I strongly condemn the comments that President Joe Biden made on the topic of Israel.” Representative Omar first pointed out President Biden’s pronunciation of ‘Hamas’—then his administration.
“For an apartheid state to receive billions of dollars in funding and arms, along with zero condemnation from the Biden administration, while also being told to stand up to Russia’s aggression in Ukraine is at best comical and ironic, but at worst hypocritical and dishonest.”
Representative Omar related President Biden’s Senate career to “war crimes” when he “voted two times for a war in Iraq.” Representative Omar concluded by declaring President Biden has no legs to stand on.
A tie can be made between Representative Omar’s vote and statement…yet I have one last shocking turn of events to leave you with. An anonymous source approached as the chamber emptied to share: “The reason that Omar voted for Scalise is due to the fact that Gaetz told Scalise that he would help him with bipartisan legislation.”
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