One Democratic lawmaker called the move "scorched earth politics."
ADVERTISEMENTNorth Carolina House Democrats are calling foul on their Republican colleagues who voted to override the governor's budget veto on Wednesday while most Democrats were not present.
The uproar began after GOP Rep. Jason Saine made a motion early Wednesday morning to reconsider the budget that was vetoed by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper earlier this year, according to the Raleigh News & Observer.
Democrats excoriated Republicans on social media and the few who were present in the House at the time of the vote furiously protested the decision. Only 12 Democrats were in the House and they did not have an opportunity to vote and their microphones were cut off, the paper reported. The vote passed 55-9. The issue now moves to the state's GOP-controlled Senate.
"How dare you do this, Mr. Speaker!" said Democratic Rep. Deb Butler, who was surrounded by fellow Democrats on the House floor as she shouted in protest at the decision, according to a video posted online by a Democratic colleague. "If this is the way you think democracy works, shame on you. This is not appropriate and you know it. The people of North Carolina, you will answer to the people of North Carolina."
Bulter later told the News & Observer that the Republicans were practicing "scorched earth politics."
House Democratic leader Darren Jackson told the paper that he informed Democrats that they did not need to be present because Republican Rep. David Lewis said there would be no recorded votes. The North Carolina House is a 120-member body and Republicans hold a 65-55 majority, however last year Democrats won enough seats in the House to end the GOP's supermajority, which had allowed them to override a veto.
"If we can't trust each other, this place will fall apart, it's just too big an entity to run, too many processes to require for everything to be in writing," Jackson said.
Democratic Rep. John Autry, who was also present, called the move unethical.
"Ethics schmethics. What's in a word. After Rules Chair communicated to Minority Leader no votes this morning the Speaker called the vote to override the veto. #NoEthics#NoTrust," he tweeted.
Democratic Sen. Jeff Jackson called the move "a new low" in a tweet.
"There have to be consequences for this kind of behavior," he said. "Just another lesson in why they must lose their majority."
Wednesday's vote comes amid an ongoing debate in North Carolina about Republican-led partisan gerrymandering. A panel of judges last week ruled that the state's legislative maps "do not permit voters to freely choose their representative, but rather representatives are choosing voters based upon sophisticated partisan sorting."