House GOP urges members to attend all votes except for 'life-or-death' emergencies

WASHINGTON, DC: House GOP leaders are warning members to skip votes only for life-or-death reasons as their narrow majority grows even more fragile.

The warning follows the unexpected death of Rep Doug LaMalfa, R-California, and the unexpected midterm resignation of Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Georgia.

House GOP orders members to attend votes amid razor-thin majority

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer’s office told NBC News that it expects members to attend votes. “Outside of life-and-death circumstances, the whip’s office expects members to be here working on behalf of the American people,” the office said.

Emmer’s team emphasized that members must be in Washington to “pass legislation to lower costs, secure the border, and support the president’s agenda."

“I’m not going to get into any specific members,” Emmer told NBC News. “We got to work with our members, especially on life and death. You got family issues? We’ve got a major car accident that we’re lucky that our member and his wife are still alive. People have to deal with those. Everything else, I tell them: ‘No, you need to be here.’”

Campaign events do not count as excusable absences, an important note given that 17 House Republicans are running for higher office.

Rep Ralph Norman said Emmer told Republicans last week, “If you’ve got a family emergency, then you can miss a vote. If you run for another office, no, you show up here.”

Who in the GOP missed recent votes?

Rep Wesley Hunt, who is running for Senate in Texas, missed several votes this month while campaigning back home, including a critical vote on Tuesday, January 13, when a GOP labor bill failed and two others were pulled from the floor due to Republican absences.

Hunt’s vote alone would not have changed the outcome, as Republicans fell several votes short. Two absences met Majority Whip Tom Emmer’s life-or-death standard: Rep Greg Murphy is recovering from surgery, and Rep Derrick Van Orden remained home while his wife underwent a surgical procedure.

Multiple leaders, including Speaker Mike Johnson, spoke directly with Hunt about his attendance. Hunt assured leadership he would return if needed, which he did last week for a key procedural vote.

“I have been in constant communication with Speaker Johnson, and if he needs my vote, just like last week, he can count on it,” Hunt said.

Still, Hunt’s absences frustrated GOP leadership, according to two Republican sources. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise pointed out that GOP Rep Jim Baird appeared at the Capitol this week wearing a neck brace following a car accident.

Scalise personally thanked him, saying, “He was here voting. So nobody’s got an excuse to not be here and do their job.”

Hakeem Jeffries mocks GOP chaos as absences threaten House majority

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who would become speaker if Democrats regain the majority, and his team appeared to relish the turmoil among House Republicans. They also expressed confidence that Democrats could expand their numbers after the midterms.

“They can’t even legislate. This group of people, they don’t know how to organize a two-car funeral,” Jeffries said at a news conference Wednesday. “They’re losing votes week after week after week.”

The possibility of further illnesses or resignations has unsettled some Republicans. “We’re one flu season away from losing the majority,” said GOP Rep Tim Burchett.