The House had a wild week for what was supposed to be a quick stopover in Washington between district work. And while most Americans don’t pay attention to the nitty-gritty of Congress, these last few days have been a real eye-opener on the things Democrats will do if they win the majority. And rejecting socialism isn’t one of them. 

For months, frustrations inside Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’s (D-N.Y.) caucus have been simmering, the natural tension between a party desperate to take back control and appear sane doing it. That’s been difficult to do, thanks to the rising influence of the Democratic Socialists and their extremely disturbing anti-American agenda. Now, what started as a family feud is boiling over in a very public way, thanks to a savvy strategy by House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to put Jeffries’s members on the record.

While the media’s focus has been on the House’s vote to denounce socialism (only eight Democrats did, incidentally), the real story may be Jeffries’s fury at two members who paved the way for the resolution to move. In a shocking twist, Democrats Jared Golden (Maine) and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (Wash.) sided with Republicans to put the bill on the floor — a dramatic departure from the party’s norm of sticking together to block the GOP’s agenda. The flip, which caught Jeffries completely off guard, enraged leadership, who are used to their members falling in line for these procedural votes.

In an over-the-top statement, Jeffries and his deputies vowed “a serious response” for this treason, insisting that “[t]he decision by two of our colleagues to blindside the entire House Democratic Caucus and join with the Republican majority to pass a procedural rule on the brink of failing represents a significant breach of trust,” the trio warned. “It is an action that necessitates a serious response, and we have asked the Committee on Caucus Rules to take this up in short order.”

At least internally, reaction was mixed about a possible punishment for the two Democrats. “Talking about losing your committee for one bad vote might be a little bit overboard,” Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.) said. Not to mention, some Democrats acknowledged, the DSA’s sudden influence is a very real issue for their constituents. “Back home in Florida right now, folks are very concerned with the rise of socialism,” Rep. Kathy Castor (R-Fla.) told The Hill. “It comes mainly from the Cuban and Venezuelan folks. They watch what’s happened to their communities when you have that kind of government, and it’s really a tip of the hat to them and their concerns.” 

Both members are part of the House’s Blue Dog Coalition, a group of moderate Democrats who pledge to appeal to “the mainstream values of the American public,” an endangered species in our hyper-partisan times. According to their website, “The Blue Dogs are dedicated to pursuing fiscally-responsible policies, ensuring a strong national defense for our country, and transcending party lines to get things done for the American people.”

But in today’s Democratic Party, centrism is no longer tolerated — let alone the compromise and bipartisanship that used to exist on Congress’s shared goals (like protecting our institutions). What happened to Jeffries’s insistence that Democrats are a “broad caucus” where diverse views are welcome? Where’s the big-tent, free-thinking progressivism we’re told guides their movement? Or is there only grace for the radical socialists to think and act independently? If so, that’s a terrifying double standard that should make every voter think twice about the party’s direction. You’re punished if you’re moderate, but not if you’re crazy.

As Punchbowl News points out, “A new crop of democratic socialists arrive in 2027, many of whom ousted incumbents by pledging to defy the party establishment.” What will leadership do then? Will they be disciplined or excused for bucking ? Because right now it seems like Jeffries would rather extend a hand to people who want to burn down the American way of life than men and women who agree with the vast majority of voters.

Family Research Council’s Quena González agrees the whole situation exposes Jeffries’s real intentions. “For years, the national Democratic Party has coddled candidates who promise to dismantle our economy, deny our nation’s Christian roots, and destroy our Constitution. Radicals like Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), and even Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) routinely yank the party sharply leftward, well to the left of the American people,” he told The Washington Stand.

“Now that a new crop of such candidates is on the ascendancy, a fair observer can only conclude that Democratic leaders in Congress bear much of the blame for the political polarization we see in the nation’s capital,” González insisted. “But when, at the same time, the party’s leadership proposes to severely punish Democratic members of Congress who vote to advance bipartisan legislation, they are letting the cat out of the bag: The radicalization of Sanders, AOC, and Ilhan Omar is a feature, not a bug.” Incredibly, he pointed out, “The party’s priorities will allow for dissension on whether the American experiment needs to be blown up but will brook no dissent on bipartisan legislation if the party’s leadership decides it’s better to embarrass Republicans than advance the interests of the members’ districts,” he underscored.

The warning for voters is clear, González reiterated. “If Democrats retake the House this fall, America will witness a profound shift in how the House of Representatives drives the national conversation. The whiplash will be intense,” he cautions, “from Speaker Mike Johnson’s consensus-building speakership — calling on every member to vote according to their better angels — to a Speaker Hakeem Jeffries who routinely indulges fits of anger laced with profanity and vulgarity, and who uses retribution instead of inspiration.”

What’s happening in our nation right now, this surge of acceptance for people who hate our country and Constitution, “is a really alarming development,” the speaker admitted to Family Research Council President Tony Perkins on “This Week on Capitol Hill.” “We’ve known that this has been creeping along … [and we’ve watched] the radical far-fringe Left [win] the Democratic primaries … on this crazy platform.” But when Republicans put it to the test to see “how many Democrats in the House would disavow that and stand for just what used to be kind of old values of the establishment Democrat[ic] Party, I’m sad to tell you, there [are] only eight of those people left.” He paused before adding, “I think it is a bellwether moment for the future of America as the constitutional republic that we’ve known it. … It’s shocking,” Johnson declared.

Could it be, Perkins asked, that the rise of socialism is directly connected to the spiritual vacuum in our country today? The Louisianan nodded. “I think that’s right,” he agreed. “I mean, of course, for a couple of generations now, we’ve been telling American schoolchildren — indoctrinating instead of educating them — that there is no moral absolute, that these things are relative. And when you erode the foundations and the basis of truth, as Psalm 113 says, the foundations [are] destroyed. What would the righteous do? An entire nation becomes imperiled,” he emphasized. “And this group, the Democratic Socialists of America, the radical Left, they’re working every day to chip away at the foundations of America,” the speaker lamented.

“Our job is to stand faithfully and to hold the line and defend those foundations,” Johnson urged, “because that’s what keeps us on track to retain our status as the greatest nation on the planet.”