House Republican Men: Still Out of Touch
First, House Republicans called a hearing aimed solely at stripping access to life-saving preventative care and family planning resources from millions of American women. In the process, House Republicans spent five hours bullying and condescending to Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards, who voluntarily agreed to appear before the House Oversight and Reform Committee. From POLITICO:
GOP chair attacks Planned Parenthood president's salary
Chaffetz also criticized the organization…for Richards' salary…
And Democrats took issue with the Republicans' aggressive line of questioning.
"I'd like to register my opposition and my objection to the chairman beating up on a woman, on our witness today, for making a good salary," said Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.). "The entire time I've been in Congress, I've never seen a witness beaten up and questioned on their salary."
And, as they tried to navigate the chaos of their leadership melodrama, House Republican men showed who's still running the show.
POLITICO: GOP's glass ceiling on Hill shows no sign of cracking
Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers found out what generations of Republican women before her have discovered: The glass ceiling on Capitol Hill is real…
McMorris Rodgers will remain as House Republican Conference chair, but that looks like as high as she'll go in the GOP pecking order. It's also as high as any woman has ever reached.
While there are more women serving in Congress than ever before, for female Senate and House Republicans, there is no sign that any of them will be party leader anytime soon.
The frustration among some female Republican lawmakers that they haven't broken through to the most senior ranks of GOP leadership was palpable after McMorris Rodgers decided not to challenge House Majority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana and House Budget Chairman Tom Price of Georgia for the position.
Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, a fellow Washington state Republican, said the House GOP "missed a golden opportunity, and I think we will pay for that."…
Out of 21 full committees in the House, Rep. Candice Miller (R-Mich.) is the only woman wielding a gavel. But Miller, who was appointed to that position by Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), will retire at the end of this Congress.
House Democrats have been led for the past dozen years by Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). Reps. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut and Donna Edwards of Maryland are co-chairs of the Steering and Policy Committee. Additionally, eight female Democratic lawmakers hold the ranking member position on full committees…
Overall, there are 65 Democratic women in the House, including three delegates, vs. 23 female Republicans, including one delegate.
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From CQ: This much has become clear about the still-evolving scramble to reconfigure the House Republican leadership: Only white males will end up occupying the top three positions of power.
While Republicans remain out of touch with the American people, House Democrats are proud of the diversity and broad representation in our ranks. The 65 House Democratic women represent the most women in a party's Caucus in American History. House Democrats know what the American people know: When #WomenSucceed, America Succeeds.