The House delivered a pretty loud message with its 285 to 98 vote to denounce what it called the horrors of socialism, and the timing could not have been more pointed. Just hours before President Trump was set to sit down with New York’s incoming democratic socialist mayor, Zohran Mamdani, lawmakers decided to put their feelings about socialism on full display. Republicans stood shoulder to shoulder on the resolution. The real surprise came from the eighty six Democrats who crossed the aisle, plus the two who voted present, a clear sign that Mamdani’s big win in New York has plenty of Democrats sweating.
Speaker Mike Johnson and other GOP leaders wasted no time framing Mamdani as the latest radical creation of a party that simply cannot help pushing itself further left. They sound ready to turn him into the poster child of what they see as the Democrats’ problem heading toward 2026. And honestly, when the nation’s largest city elects a self described socialist who is already promising sweeping government control of housing, transportation, and child care, they probably will not have to work too hard to make that case.
Democratic leaders tried to brush it all off, saying the GOP resolution cherry picks the worst examples of regimes that slapped the word socialist on their letterhead. Still, even with all the grumbling, they did not twist arms for a unified no vote. That silence said plenty. A lot of moderates, especially those representing New York districts, look like they would rather walk barefoot across the Brooklyn Bridge than be forced to defend Mamdani’s policy wish list.
The floor debate even managed to boil over. Rep. Maria Salazar of Florida took aim at Rep. Maxine Waters, accusing her of being a friend of Fidel Castro. Waters was not amused and asked for the remarks to be struck. Salazar pulled them back and the House moved on, but the tension in the room was impossible to miss.
Meanwhile, Mamdani says he is marching into his meeting with President Trump with three priorities, public safety, economic security, and what he calls an affordability agenda that supposedly won over more than a million New Yorkers. He is promising to freeze rents on day one for the two million residents in rent stabilized units, make buses free and faster, and create free child care. What he has not explained is how he plans to pay for any of it. New Yorkers have heard plenty of big promises over the years. The bill always seems to land in the same place, right on their backs.
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