The New York Republicans provide the margin to force a House vote on the Protect America’s Workforce Act after a partisan dispute stalled the discharge petition last week.
New York Republican Reps. Mike Lawler and Nick LaLota signed a discharge petition on Monday to force a House vote on a bipartisan bill to protect federal workers’ collective bargaining rights after the measure was stalled last week by a spat between Lawler and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
“The future of the labor movement belongs to the party that shows up, listens, and fights for working people,” LaLota said in a statement to POLITICO. “I’m proud to stand with America’s workers, and I will continue earning the trust that Long Islanders placed in me by delivering for them every single day.”
The moves to advance the Protect America’s Workforce Act came after a pause reflecting the ongoing political feud between Lawler and Jeffries, who sparred last month over Affordable Care Act subsidies in the early days of the government shutdown.
Newly installed Rep. Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.) was set to provide the 217th signature of the 218 needed before she was stopped by an aide to the minority leader, according to four people who are granted anonymity to discuss the matter and a video reviewed by POLITICO.
Democrats privately argued that Lawler only wanted to attach his name to the legislation if he could provide the decisive signature, allowing him to claim credit for being a pro-union Republican.
“The fact that leader Jeffries was more concerned about playing politics than protecting collective bargaining speaks volumes to the hollowness of Democrats’ pro-labor stance,” Lawler said in an interview Monday. “He shouldn’t be worried about who’s 217 [or] who’s 218. He should have been advocating for his member to sign the discharge immediately.”
Christie Stephenson, a spokesperson for Jeffries who previously criticized Lawler for holding off on endorsing the measure, said the discharge petition now “must be allowed to come to the House floor for an up-or-down vote without unnecessary delay or backdoor maneuvering by House Republican leadership.”
“Importantly, Democrats have ensured that there is now sufficient bipartisan support to withstand any procedural motions that try and kill this successful discharge petition,” Stephenson said.
The bill would nullify President Donald Trump’s March and August executive orders to strip collective bargaining rights from thousands of federal workers.
The American Federation of Government Employees applauded the moves by LaLota and Lawler to advance the discharge petition, which was introduced in June.
“An independent, apolitical civil service is one of the bedrocks of American democracy,” said AFGE National President Everett Kelley said in a statement. “Today, lawmakers stood up together to defend that principle and to affirm that federal workers must retain their right to collective bargaining. This is what leadership looks like.”