Conservative Democrats Offer Amendment to Outdo GOP’s Condemnation of DSA

By Sharon Zhang

This article was originally published by Truthout

The Democrats complained that Republicans weren’t taking the condemnation of socialism seriously enough.

A group of conservative Democrats in the House tried to one-up Republicans this week with a competing piece of legislation aimed at condemning the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and socialism in “all its forms,” after the GOP proposed an anti-socialist resolution that called for the passage of their marquee voter suppression legislation.

Last week, Republican Rep. Jeff Crank (Colorado) introduced a resolution that calls for the “condemnation and denouncement of socialism.” It calls out DSA, condemning the recent wave of DSA members running for Congress and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, and says that DSA’s ideology is “incompatible with American values.” 

The resolution clunkily segues into a call for the House to pass the GOP’s SAVE America Act, which puts burdensome restrictions on voting regarding ID requirements and proof of citizenship that civil rights advocates say would be the worst voter suppression bill ever passed by Congress.

The resolution reportedly infuriated some Democrats in the House — not because of the sweeping condemnation of an increasingly popular ideology among Democrats, but because the resolution contained the clause about passing SAVE America.

“This isn’t a serious bill,” said Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-New Jersey), per Axios. “If you actually want to take on socialism instead of playing political games, you don’t slip in the SAVE [America] Act as a poison pill that you know no Democrat will vote for.”

“To put the SAVE Act in there, it actually dilutes the power of what this socialism resolution is and and should be attempting to do,” Rep. Hillary Scholten (D-Michigan) told The Hill. “So you know our amendment just simply attempts to expose this fraudulent, insincere attempt by Republicans and say, ‘hey, if you guys really want to have a vote on socialism, let’s have it, right?’ And separate out these two issues.” 

The resolution would do little to “take on” socialism, as it’s mostly symbolic. However, it comes as the Trump administration is conducting a fascist crackdown on Americans with left-wing beliefs, and as Democratic leaders like House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) are cozying up to the right in order to bash the left.

In response, Gottheimer and other conservative Democrats — Representatives Jared Moskowitz (Florida), Hillary Scholten (Michigan), and Tom Suozzi (New York) — offered their own amendment to the legislation that condemns socialism without the language about SAVE America. The amendment is slightly different from the Republican resolution, still condemning socialism and the DSA. 

Republicans in the House Rules Committee advanced the resolution without the Democrats’ amendment.

Other conservative Democrats in the House signalled support for the resolution once it comes to a vote on the House floor, which could happen as soon as Tuesday. Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine) said that he will “probably vote for” the resolution despite its inclusion of the pro-SAVE America language. Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), the only Democrat to vote for the Save American Act when the House passed a version of the bill in February, declined to say how he plans to vote, according to Axios.

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