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Cell phone video here, courtesy Mike Moseley

House Dems turn out the lights but GOP keeps talking

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and the Democrats adjourned the House, turned off the lights and killed the microphones, but Republicans are still on the floor talking gas prices.

Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) and other GOP leaders opposed the motion to adjourn the House, arguing that Pelosi’s refusal to schedule a vote allowing offshore drilling is hurting the American economy. They have refused to leave the floor after the adjournment motion passed at 11:23 a.m., and they are busy bashing Pelosi and her fellow Democrats for leaving town for the August recess.

At one point, the lights went off in the House and the microphones were turned off in the chamber, meaning Republicans were talking in the dark. But as Rep. John Shadegg (R-Ariz..) was speaking, the lights went back on and the microphones were turned on shortly afterward.

But C-SPAN, which has no control over the cameras in the chamber, has stopped broadcasting the House floor, meaning no one was witnessing this except the assembled Republicans, their aides, and one Democrat, Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich (D-Ohio), who has now left.

Only about a half-dozen Republicans were on the floor when this began, but the crowd has grown to about 20, according to Patrick O’Connor.

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House Adjourns, But Republicans Linger to Bash Democrats on Energy

By Edward Epstein - (CQ)

The C-SPAN cameras were gone and the microphones were off, but that didn’t stop a small group of Republicans from taking over the floor after the House adjourned for five weeks to attack Democrats for leaving town without doing something to lower gas prices.

“Madame Speaker, Where art thou?’’ Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, shouted from the well of the House. “This room is vacant of most members of Congress. Where, oh where, has Congress gone?” he yelled to about a dozen other Republicans, the tourists in the gallery, some House pages, and Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich of Ohio, the lone Democrat who witnessed the unusual proceeding.

Republicans want Speaker Nancy Pelosi to call the House back into session to vote on the GOP’s energy plan, which seeks an end to a long-standing moratorium on drilling along the outer continental shelf and also seeks to boost conservation and research on alternative energy sources.

“Bring the Congress back. Let’s have a real up or down vote,” Minority Leader John A. Boehner said after coming into the chamber from a press conference.

“The American people expect Congress to represent the will of the American people,” The Ohio Republican added, to the cheers of the group.

The event started before noon and looked like it could go on for some time. After awhile, the Republicans got the bright lights turned back on and got the sound system operating. They dragged big flip charts to make their points about energy.

Adam H. Putnam, R-Fla., said “This band of brothers here is staying late to make a point to the American people: We want to work,” he said. The Republicans in the chamber then clapped and chanted “Work, work, work.’’

Pelosi , D-Calif., didn’t seem inclined to do anything to bring the GOP’s off-the-books filibuster to an end.

“The House is in adjournment. The lights are off, the mikes are off,’’ said Pelosi spokesman Brendan Daly. “They can talk all they want. We’re just doing what we normally do.’’

But Pelosi’s staff did try to minimize the amount of attention the rump filibuster was getting.

They ordered the staff of the press gallery to lock the doors to the balcony overlooking the chamber, as is the usual practice when the House is not in session.

So, GOP members started a shuttle system, taking turns moving from floor to gallery to join reporters as they watched the proceedings.

Around 12:30 p.m., the bright TV lights in the chamber were turned off, as Chief Deputy Minority Whip Eric Cantor, R-Va., was speaking.

Cantor didn’t miss a beat, declaring, “Turn off the lights, turn off the mikes, kick out the press because they [the Democrats]don’t want to deal with this important issue.”

As their effort went on, Republican members escorted tourists onto the House floor to watch the highly unusual proceedings. “You probably came here expecting to be bored,” said Rep. Mike , R-Ind. “We are disappointing you.’’

, one of the organizers of the extended rump session, said up to 40 GOP members were prepared to keep the proceedings going.

“I’m prepared to stay here as long as we can,’’

He added that before the Democratic motion to adjourn was adopted, some 100 Republicans had signed up to speak for five minutes each about gas prices. But the adjournment vote precluded that.

Pelosi and other Democratic leaders oppose GOP efforts to drill in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge or end the offshore ban. They say tens of million of acres of federal land and ocean floor are already available for drilling and have proposed “use it or lose it’’ legislation to force oil and gas companies to use their leases or give them up. They have also proposed a series of other steps, including forcing President Bush to release tens of millions of barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, a step the Democrats say would lower world oil prices quickly by increasing supply.

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(Politico)

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and the Democrats adjourned the House and turned off the lights and killed the microphones, but Republicans are still on the floor talking gas prices.

Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) and other GOP leaders opposed the motion to adjourn the House, arguing that Pelosi’s refusal to schedule a vote allowing offshore drilling is hurting the American economy. They have refused to leave the floor after the adjournment motion passed at 11:23 a.m. and are busy bashing Pelosi and her fellow Democrats for leaving town for the August recess.

At one point, the lights went off in the House and the microphones were turned off in the chamber, meaning Republicans were talking in the dark. But as Rep. John Shadegg (R-Ariz..) was speaking, the lights went back on, and the microphones were turned on shortly afterward.

But C-SPAN, which has no control over the cameras in the chamber, has stopped broadcasting the House floor, meaning no one is witnessing this except the assembled Republicans, their aides, and one Democrat, Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), who has now left.

Only about a half-dozen Republicans were on the floor when this began, but the crowd has grown to about 20 now, according to Patrick O’Connor.

“This is the people’s House,” Rep, Thaddeus McCotter (R-Mich.) said. “This is not Pelosi’s politiburo.”

Democratic aides were furious at the GOP stunt, and reporters were kicked out of the Speaker’s Lobby, the space next to the House floor where they normally interview lawmakers.

“You’re not covering this, are you?” complaing one senior Democratic aide. Another called the Republicans “morons” for staying on the floor.

Update - The Capitol Police are now trying to kick reporters out of the press gallery above the floor, meaning we can’t watch the Republicans anymore. But Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) is now in the gallery talking to reporters, so the cops have held off for a minute. Clearly, Democrats don’t want Republicans getting any press for this episode. GOP leaders are trying to find other Republicans to rotate in for Blunt so reporters aren’t kicked out.

Update 2 - This message was sent out by Blunt’s office:

“Although, this Democrat Majority just Adjourned for the Democrat 5-Week Vacation, House Republicans are continuing to fight on the House Floor. Although the lights, mics and C-SPAN camera’s have been turned off, House Republicans are on the Floor speaking to the tax payers in the gallery who, not surprisingly, agree with Republican Energy proposals.

All Republicans who are in town are encouraged to come to the House Floor.”

Update 3 - Democrats just turned out the lights again. Republicans cheered.

Update 4 - Republican leaders just sent out a notice looking for a bullhorn and leadership aides are trying to corral all the members who are still in town to come speak on the floor and sustain this one-sided debate.

Also, Republicans can thank Shadegg for turning on the microphones the first time. Apparently, the fiesty Arizona conservative started typing random codes into the chamber’s public address system and accidentally typed the correct code, allowing Republicans brief access to the microphone before it was turned off again.

“I love this,” Shadegg told reporters up in the press gallery afterward. “Congress can be so boring…This is a kick.”

Update 4 - The scene on the floor is kind of crazy. Normally, members are not allowed to speak directly to the visitor galleries, or visitors are prohibited from cheering. But in this case, the members are walking up and down on the floor during their speeches, standing on cheers, the visitors are cheering loudly. Some members even brought in visitors, who are now sitting on the House floor in the seats normally filled by lawmakers, cheering and clapping. Very funny.

Democrats faced a choice here - should they leave the cameras on and let Republicans rip Pelosi & Co. on C-Span, or should they leave the cameras off and let the Republicans have their “tantrum,” as one Democratic aide characterized it, with the cameras off. So the cameras are off, but Republicans, and the crowd, are clearly enjoying the scene.

Uodate 5 - Republicans are literally hugging each other on the House floor. Rep. Don Manzullo (R-Ill.), not normally known as an distinguished orator, just gave a rousing speech, accusing Democrats of stifling dissent. He referenced President John Quincy Adams, who returned as a House member after being defeated in his bid for re-election as president. Waving his arms and yelling, Manzullo brought the crowd (including a lot of staff shipped in by GOP leaders to fill up the place), and he left the floor to hugs from his colleagues. You don’t see that up here every day.

Update 6 - Rep Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) just pretended to be a Democrat. He stood on the other side of the chaber and listed all of the GOP bills that the Dems killed.

He then said “I am a Democrat and here is my energy plan” and he held up a picture of an old VW Bug with a sail attached to it. He paraded around he house floor with the sign while the crowd cheered.