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Rep. John Shadegg (R-Ariz.) persuaded Republican leaders to get rank-and-file GOP lawmakers to change their votes to force the debate.
At one point, the vote to table the motion stood at 246-165. Once Republicans began switching their votes, momentum swung the other way. When the vote stood at 205-206, some Democrats began switching their votes.
The vote to kill Kucinich’s resolution finally failed 162-251, giving Republicans the opportunity to watch Democrats debate whether to impeach Cheney — a debate in which many liberal Democrats were more than willing to engage.
House Republicans clearly enjoyed watching Democratic leaders squirm during the series of votes, which lasted more than one hour.
“The determination was made that if Democrats are going to waste time and resources with a resolution like this, then it should be thoroughly debated,” said Brian Kennedy, the spokesman for Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), adding that the charges against Cheney were “ludicrous.”
Nadeam Elshami, a spokesman for Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), accused Republicans of “wasting time.”
“They’re voting to impeach the vice president. What does that say about the support for President Bush in the Republican Conference?” he added, trying to put the best face on a situation Democratic leaders had wanted to avoid.
What happened next exposed the ideological fissures in the Democratic Caucus. Kucinich stared down Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), who has been critical of the war but does not want to get bogged down in a political impeachment quagmire. Pelosi has taken the same stance.
Hoyer and Democratic leaders succeeded by a 218-194 vote to get a majority of Democrats to stop further debate. The House then voted by the same margin to send Kucinich’s resolution to the House Judiciary Committee, where it will be left to languish and die.
