Rep. Tom Reed (R-N.Y.) during a House Ways and Means Committee meeting in 2017. Reed is the first member to cross the aisle on a House rules vote since 2001, when Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. (D-Ohio) voted for the GOP rules. While saying he had been threatened with “consequences,” Reed declined to say who in the Republican leadership had delivered that threat or what it might have entailed. Aides to Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), the top Republican leader, did not respond to a request for comment on whether Reed or any other Republican voting for the Democratic rules should face retaliation. Reed said Wednesday he might be joined by other Republicans, though other GOP members of the Problem Solvers Caucus did not respond to inquiries about their votes Wednesday.

Source: Washington Post January 02, 2019 19:58 UTC