House Speaker Paul Ryan and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy are planning to meet today with the sergeant-at-arms, the top law enforcement agent of the House, to decide if they should punish the Democrats for their recent sit-in.
McCarthy broke the news to reporters on Tuesday, that he and Ryan would further investigate the sit-in. "We expect members of Congress to adhere to the rules and the decorum of what is expected by being on the floor," said McCarthy.
According to McCarthy, there have even been reports from several eyewitnesses that Democrats may have tried to intimidate GOP staff. "Some people said intimidation and even knocking things out of the hands of professional staff," said McCarthy.
These leaders will be looking at video evidence from the House floor to try and corroborate some of the witness testimony they have seen to figure out if the Democrats did anything wrong. McCarthy also, mentioned that at the moment they are focused on getting the whole story, and later they will focus on what, if any, punishments should be pursued.
Nancy Pelosi has already responded to this, and as usual she has accused the Republicans of being too cozy with the gun lobby. "The lengths the House Republican leadership will go follow the NRA's marching orders know no bounds," said Drew Hammill, a spokesman for Pelosi.
Some of the possible violations the Democrats could be charged with include filming and streaming video in the House, standing in the well of the House floor and cutting off debate.
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An outside watchdog group has also filed complaints to punish the Democrats for using the sit-in to fundraise.
Despite Pelosi's claims, it appears that the House Republicans are considering some gun legislation that would further prevent terrorists from obtaining guns. The bill they intend to hold a vote on this week, would block the sale or transfer of a gun if it is demonstrated within a few days to a judge that the individual in question may have links to terrorism. A very similar bill to this already failed in the Senate.
House Democrats are still trying to push a vote on stronger gun control measure. John Lewis and John Larson had a meeting with Ryan on Tuesday to push for more gun control bills.
Ryan's office has said he is pleased to have the discussion but that the two sides have different views on stopping gun deaths.
"The path ahead on the anti-terrorism package will be discussed and determining by the majority in the coming days," said Ashlee Strong, a Ryan spokeswoman in a statement on Tuesday night.
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