The House of Representatives passed a resolution Tuesday evening condemning socialism, with all but eight House Democrats voting against it. The measure passed 220 to 192, with every “no” vote coming from Democrats, including party leaders House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., House Minority Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., and House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar, D-Calif.
The resolution also affirmed support for election integrity and called for passage of the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, legislation nearly all Democrats oppose.
The vote likely would not have happened at all without an unexpected assist from two House Democrats earlier in the day. House conservatives had threatened to block a procedural “rule vote” needed to open debate on several GOP-backed bills, including the socialism resolution. Five Republicans voted against the rule, putting it on track to fail until Reps. Jared Golden, D-Maine, and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., cast votes with Republicans, allowing it to pass narrowly, 209 to 208.
Jeffries told reporters he had not been notified beforehand that the two Democrats planned to help Republicans clear the procedural hurdle.
Along with Golden and Gluesenkamp Perez, Reps. Don Davis, D-N.C., Vicente Gonzalez, D-Texas, Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, Kathy Castor, D-Fla., Gabe Vasquez, D-N.M., and Darren Soto, D-Fla., voted for the final resolution condemning socialism. Reps. Maggie Goodlander, D-N.H., and Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa., voted “present.”
Why five Republicans balked
The five Republicans who voted against the rule — Reps. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, Chip Roy, R-Texas, Ralph Norman, R-S.C., Clay Higgins, R-La., and Andy Harris, R-Md. — were not objecting to the socialism resolution itself. Their votes were a protest over how party leaders handled a short-term government funding bill, known as a continuing resolution, that passed just before the rule vote. The Senate had modified the House-passed version, adding a provision delaying a congressionally approved hemp product ban by 30 days and another curbing the Trump administration’s control over federal grants.
Golden, who is not seeking re-election, is also a co-lead on a bill to pause new federal restrictions on certain American lobster and crab fishing industries — legislation that would have stalled if the rule had failed. Gluesenkamp Perez is considered one of the most vulnerable Democrats in the country heading into the midterms.
A midterm-season flashpoint
Socialism has become a major theme of the 2026 midterm campaign. Democrats are contending with a far-left insurgency as candidates aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America continue to defeat incumbents and establishment-backed candidates in primaries around the country. Republicans have seized on that dynamic as they fight to keep control of Congress in November.
Republican Study Committee Chairman August Pfluger, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital, “Socialism has failed everywhere it’s been tried without exception. It’s a dangerous ideology that creates misery for the very people it claims to help. Today’s vote puts the Left on the record and removes any doubt about where my colleagues on the other side of the aisle stand.”
Rep. Jeff Crank, R-Colo., who led the resolution, said, “The resolution is pretty easy, right? It condemns socialism in all its forms, including the DSA, recommits ourselves to the Constitution of the United States…a third point is that we don’t want non-citizens voting in elections. They can certainly be critical, but it’s just a quick choice for the American people to see where people stand on this stuff.”
Democrats largely dismissed the resolution as symbolic. Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., said during a hearing on Monday, “So you’re concerned about rising gas, or are you concerned about grocery prices? You know, don’t worry. Republicans in Congress are passing another non-binding resolution condemning socialism.” Many Democrats have also criticized the GOP’s election integrity push, including the SAVE Act, as voter suppression.
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